Telling PW "it wasn't a sudden decision," Phyllis Grann is retiring as president and CEO of Penguin Putnam. David Shanks, Penguin's chief operating officer, has been named CEO, and Susan Petersen Kennedy, executive vice-president, has been named president; Kennedy will report to Shanks. Although her resignation is not effective until the end of the year, Grann said she will spend the remainder of her time at Penguin "doing whatever David and Susan think makes sense." Grann noted that she didn't want to become too involved with planning for 2002, "since I won't be here."
Both Shanks and Kennedy said they did not expect the complexion of Penguin's list to change with Grann's departure. "Each list will be more devoted to a particular type of publishing, and each imprint's independence maintained," Kennedy said. New imprints for Bill Shinker and Adrian Zackheim, projects initiated by Grann, will go ahead as planned.
John Makinson, Penguin chairman, said that while he was sad to see Grann leave, she picked a good time to go since the company is doing very well and headed for a record year. He said that, with the strong group of executives that Grann has assembled, "there was never any thought about going outside" Penguin to find her successor.
Both Shanks and Kennedy were part of Putnam's management team when Pearson acquired the company in late 1996. Shanks has worked with Grann for 18 years in a variety of capacities. Penguin's mass market paperback division will continue to report to Shanks, and Doug Whiteman, president of the children's publishing division, will also now report to Shanks. Kennedy joined Putnam in 1994 after taking a hiatus from publishing following her resignation from Ballantine in 1992.
Grann is renowned for having one of the best eyes for commercial fiction in publishing. Her list of bestselling authors, many of whom are extremely loyal to her, includes Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, Clive Cussler, Nora Roberts, Amy Tan, Dick Francis, A. Scott Berg, Robin Cook, Robert Parker, Ken Follett and Sue Grafton. There was immediate speculation that other publishers may look to pick up some of Penguin's top authors with the departure of Grann. Kennedy countered that idea by asserting, "We think of Penguin as an attractive place for unhappy authors from other houses." Makinson looked to quell any speculation about Pearson possibly putting Penguin up for sale by declaring that Penguin has Pearson's "unwavering support."
Although there have been longstanding reports that Grann was growing weary of Pearson's bureaucracy and demands to improve margins year after year, Grann said there was no particular reason why she decided to step down now. She said she has "no idea" what she will do in the future, although she "hasn't ruled anything out. I'm keeping my options open."
