Bulfinch, the AOL Time Warner illustrated book imprint, has wasted no time in replacing its outgoing publisher as it moves from Boston to New York City, naming former Random House and QVC executive Jill Cohen to the position.
Cohen told PW that despite all the negativity about the glossy book market, she has high hopes for the house she is about to take over. "Everybody's writing about art books and coffee-table books, and asking if anyone will buy them anymore. I totally believe that the market is there for them," she said. "Fifteen years ago, we were publishing $30 gourmet books and selling them to 150,000 people. When it's a topic or a brand that people are committed to, they are less concerned about the price."
Before joining QVC, Cohen worked at Random House/ Condé Nast, where she was a v-p and publisher of the Condé Nast Collection and president of Random House/Direct. She developed titles for Gourmet, House & Garden, Bon Appetit and the New Yorker.
Cohen wants to give Bulfinch a higher New York profile. "I want to get us on the radar for agents and editors. I want to see all the good proposals," she said. And she wants to make it a "little more American." Some of Bulfinch's interior design titles, she said, might have been too centered on the European market.
QVC Publishing
Meanwhile, QVC Publishing is set to go through some changes of its own. The division will move its operations to the network's headquarters outside Philadelphia and will be integrated with the Q Direct line, which handles music publishing and other areas. It will not generally sign up authors who don't have a prior relationship with QVC, choosing authors who already have a platform on the channel.
