Carolyn Reidy rose to the top job at S&S in 2008 – at the outset of the Great Recession and as the arrival of e-books threatened longstanding business models based in print.
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, news this week that Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy had died from a heart attack jolted the U.S. book business, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.
“How many people at S&S left their desks in March to work remotely, and never for a moment considered they wouldn’t see Carolyn again? I am thinking today about our friends at Simon & Schuster, who have lost a great leader and are not really able to be with each other in the wake of this tragedy,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
Reidy had worked at “Big 5” publisher Simon & Schuster since 1992, Albanese noted. She rose to the top job in 2008 at the outset of the Great Recession even as the arrival of e-books threatened longstanding business models based in print.
“But through that slow growth sales environment, and amid all the digital uncertainty, she steered S&S to commercial and critical success,” Albanese says. “In fact, Reidy guided the company to 19 straight profitable quarters, a record for the company streak that was only broken late last year.”
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.