Eight months after being named vice-president and publisher of Simon & Schuster's Free Press imprint, Bill Shinker resigned from the company last week. According to a memo from Carolyn Reidy, president of S&S's adult publishing group, Shinker "realized some time ago that his interest lay elsewhere, but he agreed to remain in place until a replacement could be found." The memo also noted that Shinker will be "pursuing entrepreneurial ventures both within and outside of the established trade publishing houses."
With Shinker's departure, S&S named Martha Levin to head the Free Press, effective April 23. Levin, who will report to Reidy, will be responsible for the publishing and editorial activities of the Free Press as well as the new Simon & Schuster Source and Wall Street Journal Books imprints. Levin had been publisher at Hyperion.
Shinker had been in the process of broadening the Free Press's lists, and Reidy said that she is confident Levin will be able to build on the progress that has been made to date. In addition to upping the number of titles from the Free Press, Shinker helped launch S&S Source to serve as a home for books in the areas of health, diet, personal motivation, spirituality, parenting, reference and cooking.
Hyperion moved quickly to replace Levin by promoting Ellen Archer from v-p and associate publisher to publisher. Archer will now oversee Hyperion's editorial, production and art departments in addition to being responsible for the company's marketing, publicity, synergy and sales functions.
In a second promotion, Will Schwalbe, formerly executive editor, was named v-p and editor-in-chief. Schwalbe, who will report to Archer, joined Hyperion from Morrow in 1997. In addition to acquiring a number of bestsellers, Schwalbe oversaw the launch of Hyperion East, an imprint specializing in Asian fiction in translation.
Capping the executive changes at Hyperion, Bob Miller was promoted to president. Miller helped start Hyperion in 1990 and was senior v-p and managing director. Walt Disney Co. president Robert Iger observed that Miller "has done an outstanding job in the past 10 years of creating a highly successful book publishing company."
