Macmillan has acquired Cookstr, the website founded in 2008 by Will Schwalbe and partners Art Chang and Katie Workman with a mission "to organize the world's best cookbooks and recipes and make them universally accessible." Before founding Cookstr, Schwalbe was senior v-p and editor in chief of Hyperion and had held a similar position at Morrow. He is also the author of The End of Your Life Book Club and co-author (with David Shipley) of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better.
Schwalbe will continue in his current role, while taking on the additional title of v-p, editorial development and content innovation for Macmillan, where he will acquire books to be published across Macmillan's publishing imprints. Kara Rota, director of editorial and partnerships for Cookstr, continues in her existing role.
"We are thrilled to welcome Will, Kara and Cookstr to Macmillan," said CEO John Sargent. "Will is one of the great talents in publishing, and we all look forward to his creative collaboration across our companies. Cookstr will provide cookbook authors with a platform to reach recipe fans directly, and will give them new ways to grow their audience."
Schwalbe noted that his new role with Macmillan "is going to be enormous fun. Cookstr will have a great new home where it will operate independently and can continue to thrive and grow. I can stay deeply involved with Cookstr and also acquire and edit books in all genres for some of the world's greatest imprints."
Art Chang, Cookstr's CEO, said the deal "gives Cookstr a tremendous platform for growth."
