12 January 2009

This Looks Like a Job for Ordinary Boy!

Simon & Schuster has chosen Jon Anderson to head its children's division, starting later this month. Publishers Weekly calls this "somewhat of a surprise choice," presumably because Anderson comes from outside the company, and from a smaller publisher: Running Press.

However, Running Press is a pioneer among medium-sized publishers in combining print and online media in its Cathy's Book project. Anderson has experience at the market-oriented Price Stern Sloan imprint at Penguin and as a buyer at Barnes & Noble.

Plus, under the pseudonym William Boniface, he's author of the Ordinary Boy series, So he's seen the business from that side as well.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

And he is charming and funny (if a wee bit conceited).

J. L. Bell said...

Charming, funny, and a wee bit conceited might be requirements to run a large corporate division in challenging times.

david elzey said...

Thanks for connecting some dots for me! I remember seeing his name at B&N some time back... he's the guy who was responsible for cluttering the check-out area with impulse items, if I'm not mistaken.

I have been underwhelmed with the Ordinary Boy series. I'll be curious to see what a marketing-media person brings to the table.