Just a year ago, a new Simon & Schuster imprint called Atria published its first book, The Right Words at the Right Time by Marlo Thomas. "We didn't expect it necessarily to be a big bestseller, but it was our calling card," said Judith Curr, who heads the imprint. "It represented all the things we wanted Atria to be: we wanted it to be perfectly executed, with a strong promotional program; it had a celebrity aspect; and it was inspirational."
In the end, Thomas's book turned out to be a big bestseller anyway, so much so that its expected transition to paperback has been postponed by its continuing strong performance in hardcover. And Curr feels that after a year, Atria's identity has become clearer, both its role in the marketplace and in relation to such other related S&S imprints as Pocket Books and Washington Square Press.
The imprint is basically dedicated to nonfiction, a mix of biography and memoir, with a strong celebrity cast, and extensive publicity campaigns involving, wherever possible, the authors. There is a strong African-American contribution, representing about a sixth of the imprint's 80 annual titles; this is divided 50—50 between fiction and nonfiction and is mostly the responsibility of senior editor Malaika Adero, who recently acquired the hot-in-both-senses erotic fiction of Zane. Editorial director Tracy Behar buys lifestyle, self-help, inspirational; senior editor Greer Hendricks specializes in hip fiction (the work of Jennifer Weiner, for example), lifestyle and popular culture; senior editor Luke Dempsey does popular culture, some sports, even the occasional fiction title from overseas.
Curr stresses the need for a stable of house authors, and the importance of building backlist (the African-American program lends itself particularly well to that). "You can't just buy your way in," she said. "But I think we can move very quickly in acquisitions, perhaps faster than some others, to build up our inventory." As a result, Atria editors have to do more editing than is done at some houses with more time to have authors and agents polish their work.
To spell out some of the aspects of the program that caused some initial confusion: Atria does mostly hardcover, with some trade paperback; Pocket will do some mass market versions; and WSP does mostly upscale fiction (Weiner's Good in Bed is currently a strong performer there). There is a certain amount of buying for other imprints, but the emphasis is on building Atria inventory, especially in fiction brand names—like Judith McNaught, Karen Robards, Jude Deveraux—as well as series that lend themselves to special sales efforts. There is a new, dedicated publicity group under Seale Ballenger, but marketing and sales are shared with S&S—though with dedicated staff involved.
Among the big books Atria is readying for the fall are Kevin Aucoin: A Beautiful Life, a tribute to the late makeup artist, with introductions by Gwyneth Paltrow, Tina Turner and Aucoin's sister, Carla Hoffkins; Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit by her son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer; and Words of Wisdom: The Legendary Wisdom of African-American Elders.
