Simon & Schuster announced last week that it is replacing its existing sales structure, which consisted of three dedicated sales forces, with a new, unified S&S sales and distribution division. Rick Richter, currently president of S&S's children's publishing group, has been named president of the new distribution unit. He will continue to serve as president of the children's operation until a successor is found.
Under Richter, the new sales group will assume the responsibilities that had been carried out by the S&S trade sales force, the Pocket Books sales force and the children's sales force. Jack Romanos, president and chief operating officer of S&S, said that while the old sales structure had worked well in the past, he believes that in today's marketplace, "a consolidated sales force is an undeniable necessity. With mega-publishers and mega-customers, I felt we were diluting our size by the way we were structured. Customers talked to Simon & Schuster Trade and to Pocket, but they never talked to Simon & Schuster Inc." The new structure, Romanos said, should bolster S&S's presence in the market.
Full details about the restructuring were not available last week, although Romanos insisted "this is not about downsizing, but about matching the right selling people with the right volumes." As part of the reorganization, Larry Norton, who had been v-p, director of sales for the S&S trade division, has been named senior v-p and director of sales for the new division. He will report to Richter. Romanos said he chose Richter to lead the new sales group because he is "a very solid performer. He came from a selling background and never shed those roots."
Changes at U.K., Pocket
In other developments at S&S, Nick Webb, the managing director of S&S U.K., will leave the company by the end of the year. Romanos said he hopes to name a successor prior to Webb's departure.
Over at Pocket, Karen Mender has been named v-p, deputy publisher of hardcover and trade paperbacks, filling one of the new slots that opened up when Pocket president and publisher Judith Curr reorganized the company (News, Sept. 27). Mender, who starts at Pocket January 5, is currently v-p of strategic planning for Bantam-Dell. At Pocket she will work to further the publisher's general fiction program and to grow its nonfiction profile.
