Random House has made some changes in its Random House Value Publishing division, replacing president Lynn Bond with Sheryl Stebbins. Stebbins, who had been v-p, publisher, for the Random House Reference Group, has been named to the new position of publisher of the Value Publishing unit.
Random House spokesperson Stuart Applebaum said Stebbins's appointment reflects the plan by the company to develop the Value Publishing group's publishing program rather than relying so heavily on its distribution operation. Given the change in direction, "we wanted someone with more of a publishing and marketing background," Applebaum said. In addition to serving as publisher of the reference group, Stebbins has been marketing director for the information group for the last 15 months. To replace Stebbins, Random promoted Jeanne Kramer to v-p, publisher, Random House Reference and Random House Puzzles & Games.
This is the second change to hit the value group in the last several months. Earlier this year, the company disbanded the unit's own commissioned sales force and moved the sales activity in-house.
