Simon & Schuster announced that former book publishing executive Dawn Davis will return to the publishing house as senior v-p and publisher of 37 Ink and executive editor of the S&S trade imprint. She will also join Simon & Schuster’s executive leadership team, reporting directly to S&S CEO and president Jonathan Karp. Davis will begin her new role in September.
Davis moves to S&S from Condé Nast, where since 2020 she has been editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious. However, her move marks a return to S&S, which she initially joined in 2013 and where she founded the 37 Ink imprint. In her time at S&S, she acquired and/or edited such books as Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers, Dawnie Walton’s The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, Ilyon Woo’s Master Slave Husband Wife, and the forthcoming How to Say Babylon by Saifya Sinclair.
Prior to her first joining S&S in 2013, Davis was publisher of Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins, where she edited such books as The Known World by Edward P. Jones, Steve Harvey’s Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, and Chris Gardner's The Pursuit of Happyness.
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dawn and working with her for decades and have long admired her commitment to her authors and to multicultural publishing, her entrepreneurial spirit and wide-ranging interests, and her collaborative nature," Karp said in a statement. "The world of book publishing is better for having Dawn back, and we are thrilled to have her rejoining Simon & Schuster.”
“I have enjoyed working with Condé Nast leadership and my team to rebuild the Bon Appétit brand. ... But being away from books has only made me realize how much I love working on manuscripts," said Davis in a statement. "It's been exhilarating to watch the books I acquired and edited become bestsellers, Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon Book Club selections, Obama favorites and New York Times bestsellers. I am keen to be reunited with Jon Karp and the great team at Simon & Schuster, and for the opportunity to publish books again under the 37 Ink and Simon & Schuster banners.”
