Looking to join the Internet gold rush, Arthur Samuelson, editorial director of Schocken Books since 1993, is leaving the distinguished Knopf Publishing Group imprint to launch an Internet-based business venture that will focus on the culinary expertise of his wife, Molly O'Neill, food critic at the New York Times.
Succeeding Samuelson as editorial director of Schocken will be Susan Ralston, formerly senior editor and director of new media at Knopf. In addition, Altie Karper, formerly managing editor of Pantheon Books and Schocken Books, has been named an editor at Schocken.
William Loverd, senior v-p of Knopf publicity, emphasized to PW that Samuelson's departure was in no way related to last week's cancellation of Binjamin Wilkomirski's Fragments after a commissioned report into the controversial Holocaust memoir found it to be a fake. Samuelson was unavailable for comment on his new Web venture, but Loverd told PW his departure was "completely amicable. The Web site venture is an exciting opportunity for him."
Founded in 1933 in Germany, Schocken moved to the U.S. in 1945 and joined Random House in 1987. Ralston told PW that while Judaica will remain a Schocken specialty, the publisher has been "expanding into titles on spiritual discovery, women's studies and cultural history. The balance will not change, but the list will be open to universal as well as Jewish spiritual concerns." Although the number of titles Schocken publishes has declined in recent years, Ralston said she hopes to publish six to nine titles a year.
Departments Merged
Elsewhere within the Knopf Publishing Group, the unit has merged its publicity and promotion departments to form a publicity and promotion department. The new department will be headed by Paul Bogaards, who was named senior v-p and executive director. He will continue to report to Pat Johnson, v-p and associate publisher. Loverd has been named senior v-p, publicity and promotion, and will remain v-p, corporate affairs, for Random House Inc.
