In its most fundamental way, Rodale, which was founded in 1930 by J.I. Rodale to teach people how to improve their lives by improving their health, hasn't changed. If anything the company, which went through reorganizations and executive shifts the past two years, is reasserting itself as very much the kind of publishing house it started as—a family-run business with a mission to attract authors that share its message of "healthy living on a healthy planet."
Like so many media companies, Rodale has struggled under a buckling economy and a sector in transition. To cope with the changes, in November 2008 the company downsized by roughly 10%, and brought in a fresh executive team. Karen Rinaldi was hired in March 2008 to head the company's book division, and in summer 2009 Maria Rodale took over her grandfather's company as CEO following the departure of Steve Murphy, who was at the publisher for 10 years (eight of them as CEO). Amid the shuffling, both Leigh Haber and Liz Perl left Rodale's book division, and Rinaldi brought on Colin Dickerman (who had worked with her at Bloomsbury) and Pam Krauss (from Clarkson Potter).
Despite the personnel changes and the recession, 2009 proved a surprisingly strong year for Rodale's trade unit. The company saw 12 of its titles hit the Times bestseller list, a statistic that means 13% of the trade division's output were hits. After a strong first quarter in 2009, bookstore sales were down 5% in this year's first period. "Last year trade was the star of our whole portfolio," Maria Rodale said. And, while she admitted that the past two years have been unusually tough for the magazine sector—the other core part of the company's media business—she is seeing recovery there. "The question is, will [the magazine business] ever be as good as it was." That is something everyone is wondering about, she continued, but added that it "certainly won't be as bad as it was last year."
On the books front, Rodale is committed to keeping its title output the same—last year it released 95 books—and staying on topic. That means publishing authors who are behind Rodale's mission statement that combines the core commitments to health and the environment. This commitment is something Rinaldi and Maria Rodale believe helps bring in big names like Al Gore (whose 2007 An Inconvenient Truth was a major hit for Rodale) and Alicia Silverstone (a vegan whose 2009 The Kind Diet was also a hit). Forthcoming in this category of books by celebrity activists is Ted Danson's 2011-scheduled Deep Water, in which the actor-conservationist focuses on the destruction of the world's oceans.
Rinaldi said the book division has narrowed its focus to health, wellness, and the environment. Ancillary topics like politics and music, which Rodale had been involved with in recent years, are being downplayed. And while the company is still committed to branded titles—Rinaldi said that currently about 30% of its books are associated with brands (like The Biggest Loser books; the Eat This, Not That titles; and the South Beach series)—there is more room now for narrative nonfiction. To that end, the company is publishing in 2011 a book by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (who previously published titles with Hyperion and Portfolio), and a memoir called The Long Run by firefighter Matt Long, who ran the New York City Marathon after a near-fatal accident. (The book was spun off of an article in the Rodale-owned magazine, Runner's World.)
Rinaldi also said the company is bullish on the digital front. She pointed to popular apps that Rodale has developed for Men's Health on the iPad as well as for the Eat This, Not That series. Nonetheless, Rinaldi noted, the digital space is still in flux, so there is some caution. Questions still abound about whether it's best to adapt book content into apps, enhanced e-books, or other digital formats.
When asked about the future, Rinaldi pointed to Maria Rodale's recent book, The Organic Manifesto, which Rodale published in March. While Maria Rodale joked that it was an unhappy accident that her book promotion overlapped with her promotion, the title, Rinaldi said, nicely highlights what the company is all about. "In a way you have the object that sets forth what Rodale is," she explained, citing the book. Just as her grandfather's 1942 book on the same topic, Pay Dirt, spread the company's message, so does The Organic Manifesto. "For 80 years it's been the family mission to inspire people to be more responsible in how they live their lives, and that message has never been more important," Maria Rodale said. "We welcome any authors who want to join us in that mission."
