Storey Publishing president and publisher Pamela Art will step down after 30 years with the press, best known for its books on gardening, crafts, animal husbandry, self reliance, and country living. Art has been with Storey since its founding in Pownal, Vt., and through its transition to a home at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., and majority ownership by Workman Publishing in 2001. She will stay on part-time through the summer. COO Dan Reynolds will assume the role of CEO and president; editorial director Deborah Balmuth has been named publisher.
Art is leaving Storey to pursue a project that she refers to loosely as “author travel” to help people in need. “It’s been a tuff decision,” says Art. “But it’s Storey’s mission come to life.” She is patterning her service program, which involves travel and self-sustaining assistance, after Cari Clements’s Rwanda Knits Project, which provides knitting machines and business skills to low-income women in Rwanda, and Laura Martin’s Ties That Matter, which helps people in Haiti. Martin, who created Nature’s Art Box (Storey) will write about the project for Storey, which has already lined up an exhibit and weekend celebration at MASS MoCA in 2015.
“Deciding this was the right time [to leave] is partly the thirtieth anniversary, the tug of this other project, and that Storey’s in a really great place now,” said Art. “I think that of everything, I’m most pleased that Storey has been able to grow, thrive, and stay relevant for a new generation.” Added Reynolds, “I’m very optimistic about Storey’s future. We are finding the experts in each of our categories and creating wonderful, rich, and important books that are useful and inspiring to our passionate customer. And we are widening our audience by reaching out to customers of all ages, from kids to adults.”
Storey will mark the transition to new leadership and the press’s first 30 years at BookExpo America, along with another Workman imprint that is also turning 30, Algonquin Books.
