Penguin Random House US has just notched up a publishing first. It has created a role that includes an author’s name, which gives some idea of the importance of the author in question. It has just appointed Suzanne Herz to the role of ‘Publisher, John Grisham’, with responsibility for the company’s publishing strategy for the John Grisham brand, which will now be part of the sales and corporate marketing departments.
It is very hard to think of another adult author whose name has become part of a job title. Herz and Grisham have worked together on nearly 40 of his titles. The company has published at least one Grisham title a year, and since his debut with The Firm in 1991, more than 400 million of his books have been sold worldwide.
Herz started her career in the Putnam publicity department and held a variety of leadership positions at the company for three decades, most recently as executive v-p, publishing director of Doubleday and publisher of Vintage & Anchor Books. Last year she had accepted PRH’s voluntary separation offer and left the company in December, but agreed to act as a consultant, overseeing Grisham’s frontlist and backlist in coordination with Doubleday.
Grisham will continue to be published by PRH imprint Doubleday and his central publishing support and sales teams remain in place. His next book, his 50th, is Camino Ghosts, which Doubleday is publishing in May.