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Crown becomes separate adult publishing division again as PRH US reorganises
Nihar Malaviya, c.e.o. of Penguin Random House, has announced that the number of adult publishing divisions at PRH US is rising from three to four with the creation of the newly formed Random House and Crown Publishing Groups.
Crown Publishing was founded in 1933 as the Outlet Book Company and in 2018 was combined with the main Random House Publishing Group. The restructure will mean Crown is separated back out into a distinct publishing group. The four divisions will now be Penguin Publishing Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Random House Pub Group and Crown Pub Group.
A spokesperson emphasised that while Random House and Crown had previously just been one division, as two distinct divisions they are technically “new” because the imprint groupings for each of them – as determined collaboratively between Sanyu Dillon, who has been promoted to president of the Random House Publishing Group and David Drake, promoted to president of the Crown Publishing Group – is different than what the imprint groupings were prior to the two groups being merged in 2018.
In an internal memo to staff shared with The Bookseller, Malaviya said: “Today (28th February), we are making organisational changes that are designed to meet those market challenges and set us up for future growth.
“Books and the people who make them are at the heart of what we do. Our editors’ ability to aggressively pursue the works they are most passionate about, and the autonomy and independence of our divisions and imprints, is what drives our business and ensures our success. Therefore, we will expand the number of adult publishing divisions from three to four, creating the newly formed Random House and Crown Publishing Groups.”
The move has catalysed a number of promotions. Dillon, previously chief marketing officer, has been promoted to president of the Random House Publishing Group, overseeing imprints Random House, The Dial Press, Hogarth, The Modern Library, One World, Ballantine Bantam Dell/Delacorte, Random House Worlds, Harmony/Rodale, Convergent, and WaterBrook & Multnomah.
Dillon joined Random House in 2004 as director of marketing for the Random House imprint and for the next 14 years, held successive marketing roles, working on books from a wide range of authors such as Lisa See, Amy Bloom, Curtis Sittenfeld, Jodi Picoult, and George R R Martin. In 2018, she moved to corporate marketing, and became chief marketing officer in 2020.
David Drake has been promoted to president of the new Crown Publishing Group, overseeing Crown, Currency, Clarkson Potter, and Ten Speed Press. He began his Penguin Random House career in 1999 in the publicity department of what would become the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group. He joined the Crown Publishing Group in 2009, where he served as e.v.p., deputy publisher, from 2013 to 2018, overseeing the marketing, publicity and business development departments, and directing publishing strategy for key titles across the group’s imprints. He was named publisher in 2018 and was promoted to president in 2021.
The following publishers will continue in their roles as division heads, reporting to Malaviya: Amanda D’Acierno, president and publisher of Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; Allison Dobson, president, Penguin Publishing Group; Jen Loja, president, Penguin Young Readers; Barbara Marcus, president and publisher, Random House Children’s Books; and Maya Mavjee, president and publisher, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Malaviya said: “These changes and the continued success of our company require the dedicated support of all our corporate areas and the steady guidance of seasoned, service-oriented leaders”, adding that as such, Jeff Abraham is promoted to president of publishing operations, technology and services. In his expanded role, Abraham will lead IT, publishing operations and PRH Labs in addition to his continued oversight of PRHPS.
The following leaders will also report to Malaviya as part of the changes and sit on the US Board: Annette Danek, who recently expanded her role to become global e.v.p., chief supply chain officer; Paige McInerney, e.v.p., director of HR; Kimberley Ayers Shariff, e.v.p. of strategy for diversity, equity and inclusion; and Nina Bon Moltke, president, director of strategic development.
With Dillon’s move to Random House, Erica Curtis has been promoted to s.v.p. of consumer marketing and she and the consumer marketing team will now report to Jaci Updike, who is promoted to president of sales and marketing, continuing to sit on the US Board and newly reporting to Malaviya. John Bohman, s.v.p. of sales and customer operations, will also report to Updike.
Malaviya said: “By bringing these departments together, our goal is to become even more reader-focused and market-facing. Our impressive title marketing teams will remain at the divisional and imprint levels—this does not impact their strategies or reporting lines.
"These colleagues make up an incredibly talented, experienced team of leaders with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. To position ourselves for future growth, I have chosen to elevate this executive team to lead the US business and work directly with me—and with all of you—as we write our next chapter together.”
He also noted that the heads of the global support areas and the chief executives of each of PRH’s international divisions who sit on the Global Executive Committee will continue to report to him.
“I am very excited about our new leadership team and the promotions of our many esteemed colleagues mentioned here, but I would be remiss not to celebrate all of our employees and your accomplishments. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to our authors and books. It is truly your individual contributions that will ensure that these coming weeks and months are full of opportunities and growth for us collectively,” he said.
