Ingram ceo and president Skip Prichard will leave the company on June 8 after more than five years, in a abrupt announcement somehow trying to hide itself on the Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend. Current chairman John Ingram will assume the duties of ceo when Prichard departs. In a statement John Ingram said that Prichard “rebranded and refocused our efforts within Ingram Content, and through a well designed strategy, hard work and energetic leadership repositioned our companies to succeed in the fast changing publishing environment.”
Prichard indicates, “I now will do some consulting and then look for a new role that will consume me as much as this one has. I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time at Ingram.” He notes, “When John hired me five years ago, he shared his vision and I signed on to make that vision a reality. I signed up to accomplish certain goals, and those goals have all been met one by one. With solid positions in all of our markets yielding terrific results, I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do.”
On his personal blog, Prichard explained, “Part of leadership is knowing when you have completed the mission. My timing for wanting to move to a new phase coincided with John Ingram’s desire to assume a more direct role.” He added, “I’ve always been energized by change…. I’ve decided to consult for a time before jumping into a new position.”
In other personnel news, Melanie Little is stepping down as senior editor, Canadian fiction at House of Anansi Press to focus on her writing. She will continue to edit a select number of writers, including Lisa Moore and Lynn Coady. In addition, Jared Bland has been promoted to senior editor, Kelly Joseph moves up to managing editor, and Meredith Dees has been promoted to editor.