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Random House

Random House CEO Markus Dohle: “Focusing on What We Do Best”

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Random House Chairman and CEO Markus Dohle and NYU-SPI students

Star struck. That’s how the 116 Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) students felt. The man standing in front of us was the embodiment of all that we hoped to achieve in our careers. He strode into the room confidently, smiling, easing our nerves at meeting one of the most influential people in the publishing industry—and someone most of us desperately hoped to work for: Markus Dohle, Chairman and CEO of Random House, was ready to guide us through the changes facing book publishing currently and in the future.
[Read more…] about Random House CEO Markus Dohle: “Focusing on What We Do Best”

Book Expo America: Rock Concert for Book Lovers

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SPI students Vivian Roberson and Chloe Goodhart at BEA

After the first three days of classes, NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) students experienced a change of pace from the classroom when they attended Book Expo America (BEA) at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The conference center was transformed into a huge mall where every “store” featured the same thing: books. Even better for the students, the big books for fall were not only prominently displayed, but in some cases given away as advance reading copies. [Read more…] about Book Expo America: Rock Concert for Book Lovers

McNally Jackson’s Espresso Book Machine: Write it. Print it. Now!

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Espresso Book Machine at McNally Jackson’s Manhattan Bookstore

“I like the part where it pops out,” says Beth Steidle, who is one of two primary operators of McNally Jackson’s Espresso Book Machine. “It’s kind of like Willy Wonka.” But despite the analogy, this machine isn’t popping out candy (or coffee beans or a steamy brew!); it’s printing books. One at a time. Exactly how the customers want them. Last week, NYU’s M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media Program students got a first-hand look at the machine and its wonders during a private visit to the Nolita bookstore.

The Espresso Book Machine (EBM) is a giant contraption that creates print-on-demand paperback books, fully bound, in minutes. The 87 EBMs in the world are sold or rented/leased by On Demand Books. The New York-based company was founded in 2003 by publishing legend Jason Epstein, who had long envisioned an efficient way to print books at an affordable cost in a neighborhood setting. Today, the company stores all of its books on a network database. They’re boldly tackling the old publishing model of gambling on print runs. And they are partnering with major publishers like HarperCollins to deliver out-of-print books at the customer’s convenience (and expense!). In addition, On Demand Books is providing an instant means for self-publishers to see their e-creations in printed form. With all this undeniable business potential, it’s no wonder McNally Jackson was the first in New York to invest in an Espresso Book Machine—and they’ve never regretted it.

[Read more…] about McNally Jackson’s Espresso Book Machine: Write it. Print it. Now!

Speed Networking: Fast Facts!

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(back l-r) Neil De Young, Jaime de Pablos, Stephen Acunto, Jr, Karina Mikhli, Lavinel Savu, Laura De Silva, Angela Bole; (front l-r) Kastoory Kazi, blogger Rebecca Hytowitz, Mark Steffen, Liz Peterson

Ever wondered how to build a personal brand? (Hint: remove your home address from your résumé and add your LinkedIn URL instead.) How about best practices for social media? (Engage and interact with your audience instead of just pushing content!) These were just some of the topics and comments tossed around at the first-ever “Speed Networking” event hosted by the newly-constituted NYU Publishing Alumni Committee last week at NYU’s Torch Club. Committee co-chairs Laura De Silva and Jaime de Pablos and their devoted event committee members have been working on this for months—and their efforts showed. The committee invited seasoned and senior publishing alumni to serve as “speed facilitators” at each of five tables. Each facilitator was assigned a specific theme to discuss. Committee members were also assigned to each table to help with the discussion. [Read more…] about Speed Networking: Fast Facts!

Step Right Up: Publishing Predictions for 2021

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Perseus CEO David Steinberger talks to SPI students.

“The first book published was the Bible,” announced David Steinberger, CEO of the Perseus Books Group. “And the second book was  ‘The Demise of Publishing.’” Laughter ensued as the NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) students listened to the final address of the 2011 six-week program. In fact, Steinberger depicted publishing as far from its demise, vibrant and alive with a spirit of adaption and improvement.

Steinberger led students through his own predictions for what publishing will look like in 2021. Despite the ephemeral nature of publishing today, Steinberger—if anyone—is in a great position to forecast future trends for the ever-evolving industry.

Listen up: the future according to Steinberger could become our reality. Here are the Perseus CEO’s predictions: [Read more…] about Step Right Up: Publishing Predictions for 2021

“Ten Things You Might Do to Get a Job” (And More!)

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AAP's Tom Allen addressing SPI students

“You may well have signed up for this summer institute because you want to edit fiction or nonfiction,” Tom Allen, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), told the students in his keynote address at the beginning of the book session of the NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute (SPI). “But in a few weeks, you’ll learn what that [editing] entails,” Allen counseled, and then added:

“You’ll also gain insight into the breath of jobs in this industry in finance, production, rights, marketing, to name a few, that directly affect the success of books. In publishing, it takes a village. It really takes a village. I urge you to be open to the many—what I think will be unexpected—opportunities that you come across that will offer you a fulfilling career within the community of literate, engaged, and interesting people.”

After this brief appeal, Allen then launched into a discussion of the effects of the digitization of books on the publishing industry. When more than half of the SPI attendees told Allen they read on digital devices, it would have been remiss for him not to focus a majority of his talk on this topic.  Still, I wondered, if digital was so important, why would he have urged us to stay open-minded to all the opportunities that the publishing industry affords? As I listened to the panel discussion that followed on the future of book publishing, I had a far better understanding of what Allen meant.  [Read more…] about “Ten Things You Might Do to Get a Job” (And More!)

Meet Random House’s Markus Dohle

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Random House Chairman and CEO Markus Dohle speaks to NYU-SCPS Publishing students in the company's conference room.

As part of a group of NYU Master of Science in Publishing students eagerly gathering in the lobby of Random House last Friday, I marveled at the display cases that enclosed hundreds and hundreds of Random House books, old and new, of every category and representing a myriad of international editions. I was one of 30 students lucky enough to ride the elevator up to the twenty-fifth floor conference room to meet with the company’s Chairman and CEO, Markus Dohle, and hear his viewpoints on book publishing.

When the elevator doors opened and we piled out into the hallway, it came as no surprise that more bookshelves lined the walls outside the conference room, which was adorned with yet more bookshelves.

While most of these books featured the name of a single author on the cover, one of the major points I took away from Dohle’s talk is that publishing a book is a team effort. After Andrea Chambers, director of the program, introduced Random House’s chairman, he jumped right into revealing the way in which he leads Random House, which has over 120 publishing imprints worldwide —through “shared values, a collaborative spirit, and teamwork.” [Read more…] about Meet Random House’s Markus Dohle

Abu Dhabi Diary, Part I

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Philip Patrick lecturing in Abu Dhabi

“It’s profoundly important to be willing to fail. What’s important is trying new things,” said Philip Patrick, a publisher at Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, as students from 14 nations listened raptly. Most were thousands of miles from home, seated at student desks at the brand new campus of New York University Abu Dhabi, participating in the inaugural executive publishing training sessions for publishers from the Arab world (and beyond). [Read more…] about Abu Dhabi Diary, Part I

Meet Our New Fall Faculty

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A leading editor. Two renowned publishing attorneys. An online marketing expert. A top print and production chief. A star web designer. A publisher who discovered some of our most beloved books. A successful entrepreneur who is  now a senior digital executive. These are the new faces  joining our faculty of leading publishing practitioners at the Master of Science in Publishing program this fall. We are delighted to welcome them and thought you would like to hear about who’s who in the classroom: [Read more…] about Meet Our New Fall Faculty

The Editors Speak

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 Chris Jackson of Spiegel and  Grau moderates a panel discussion on the art of editing

I was eager to grab a front row seat for “From Passion to Pages: The Editor’s Job,” an NYU Summer Publishing Institute panel where editors gave us an inside look at their backgrounds and experiences. Their message: everyone’s journey is unique and personal, and with hard work, we have the potential to achieve our lofty career goals.

Chris Jackson, Executive Editor of Spiegel and Grau/Random House, moderated the discussion, and the panel included Mauro DiPreta, Associate Publisher of IT Books; Brenda Copeland, Executive Editor of Hyperion; Will Balliett, President and Publisher of Thames & Hudson; Eamon Dolan, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Penguin Press; and Beth de Guzman, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Grand Central Publishing.

The moderator began the discussion by explaining to us that acquiring submissions, editing, and overseeing the publication process all constitute an editor’s job. The editor acts as a guardian and holds the author’s hand every step of the way; editors have to believe in their ability to judge a piece from its first draft. We learned that nearly all editors are unsure of themselves at times, and it was comforting to see that even the “best” have doubts.

Brenda Copeland and Maura DiPreta compare notes on editing

Jackson elicited fascinating responses from his questions on a variety of topics. When asked how she entered the editing world, Copeland sent a sigh of relief through the audience by explaining that she got into publishing in her late thirties. She calmed some of our built-up tension by stressing that it’s never too late to do what you want to do. DiPreta offered comfort when he explained that he didn’t experience a pivotal, career-defining moment magically resulting in obtaining a dream-come-true job. “I was born in a shed in North Dakota…” he joked. DiPreta then got serious and revealed his habit of reading submissions at 2:00 a.m., as he did with the manuscript of Marley and Me. His wife woke up and found him teary-eyed, surrounded by loose pages. The next morning, DiPreta put in a bid on the book, which went on to become a massive bestseller (and a film). “If you cry, you must buy,” he told the amused audience.

Dolan shared the important notion that at the heart of any editing task, “structure is destiny.” He explained how we need to bring it back to the basics when it comes time to criticize a piece of writing. When the conversation then moved to how an editor can possibly estimate if a book will sell, Balliett explained that anticipating a book’s potential audience is something you have to keep in mind constantly, yet not live by. Simply loving a book is not enough for an editor.

Copeland, DiPreta, Jackson (back),Dolan, Balliett and de Guzman speak to SPI students

For Dolan, there is a secret question he asks himself before bidding on a manuscript: “Would I actually pay $30 of my own money to read this?” If the answer is no, then an editor should pass on a book. De Guzman reiterated a key point that there’s a reader for every single book out there, but the question remains, “How big is that audience?”

The ability to hone in on one thing that makes a book special and unique is at the heart of publishing. As Jackson advised, “You have to be able to articulate that [special something].” Editors also have to refrain from underestimating authors and realize and appreciate the amount of work and passion that goes into writing a novel. And remember, they cautioned, most books are not bestsellers. Still, whether or not a book becomes a hit with readers, our panel agrees that seeing a book they’ve worked on change the way people think and live their lives is the greatest reward.

by Stacy Matusik