Suzanne Herz, executive v-p, publisher of Vintage/Anchor Books and executive director of publishing, Doubleday, has accepted Penguin Random House's voluntary separation offer and will leave the company, effective December 15. She will, however, continue to act as a consultant, overseeing John Grisham's frontlist and backlist in coordination with the Doubleday team.
In connection with Herz's departure, the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group is phasing out the storied Anchor name. As of January 2024, Anchor hardcover titles will be published by other KDPG imprints--which include Knopf, Doubleday, Pantheon, and Schocken--and no more Anchor hardcovers will be acquired. Over time, Anchor paperback titles will be published by Vintage when they are reprinted.
Anchor Books was founded in 1953 by Doubleday as a high-quality trade paperback publisher aimed at the college market and serious readers; a young Jason Epstein outlined the program for Doubleday. In 1999, Anchor was merged with Vintage, which was founded by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954.
Maya Mavjee, president & publisher of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, noted in a statement that during the past few years, "we've worked to adapt to many shifts in the paperback marketplace," which has included aligning frontlist and backlist programs, "moving paperback publishing responsibilities to their originating imprints." Now, with Herz departing, the group has "an opportunity to further strengthen our focus on our rich and varied frontlist, which serves as the foundation for our incredible backlist." She called Vintage "one of the most recognizable and legendary imprints in the industry."
As a result of ending the Anchor imprint, Mavjee outlined some personnel changes, with a large group of Vintage/Anchor Books staff moving to other areas within the group.
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| Suzanne Herz | |
Mavjee praised Herz's "extraordinary 30 years with the company," which started at Putnam as a publicist. She has also been publicity director, marketing director, associate publisher, and publisher at Vintage/Anchor Books since 2019. "She has touched every aspect of bookmaking and along the way her distinctive reading tastes (especially those as a thriller junkie), penchant for embracing debut writers, and innovative and inventive thinking--on scales both large and small--have centered on a book-and-author-first approach from the very beginning," Mavjee continued. "Suzanne is an enduring and deeply respected member of the publishing community not only because of her dedication to her authors and their books, but to her colleagues as well. She has mentored and guided some of Penguin Random House's brightest lights along with a host of publicists and marketers throughout the industry."
Mavjee also wrote that Herz has worked with a range of authors and their books, most notably 35 books by John Grisham and four novels by Dan Brown. "Suzanne's visionary leadership and innate creativity have not only been valued by her many colleagues but have also been recognized industry-wide: she has been a two-time recipient of Ad Age's illustrious Marketer of the Year award."