• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register
Publishers Lunch logo Publishers Lunch logo
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help
Login Sign Up
  • Personnel
  • AI
  • Compensation
  • Unions
  • Book Bans
  • New Releases
  • Earnings
  • The Trial
  • Archives
Publishers Lunch logo
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

December 4, 2013By Sarah Weinman

People: Heffernan to Retire from Penguin

December 4, 2013By Sarah Weinman

Longtime president of adult hardcover and children’s sales for Penguin Dick Heffernan will retire at the end of the year after more than 24 years with the company (and almost 40 years at a company enfolded into Penguin Random House).  PRH coo Madeline McIntosh notes with “much regret” after “[trying] very hard to persuade him to change his mind about retiring” that “working together with Dick during these first few months in our merged company has been a terrific experience for me, and for our Random House group, as it has always been for our Penguin colleagues. And with us having begun the collaborative process of forming the Penguin Random House sales department, Dick’s deep knowledge of Penguin’s people, books, and business practices has been invaluable in both getting our new company properly on course, and in continuing to motivate everyone to realize the sales potential of the Penguin Group lists under his direction.”

McIntosh added: “With the same clear-eyed determination he has brought to selling Penguin books, Dick has remained steadfast in this personal choice. As hard as I know it will be for so many of us to say goodbye, I respect his decision, knowing he will be available to all of us, should we need advice in support of Penguin books and Penguin people.”

Succeeding Heffernan, effective January 2, is John Lawton, currently vp, director of national accounts for Penguin’s adult hardcover division. Of Lawton’s promotion, McIntosh notes: “John has been valued by customers, publishers, and colleagues alike for his stellar ability to maximize the potential for our books in the marketplace, and for his acumen to think strategically and with foresight about the scope and direction of our business. His passion for our books is equaled by his effectiveness at getting them well-positioned at our accounts.”

In other personnel news, Tara Singh Carlson has returned to Penguin Books as editor, after a brief period in legal recruiting at Sullivan and Cromwell.

Elissa Baillie will join Simon & Schuster Australia as sales director on January 10. She was most recently national accounts manager at Penguin Children’s.

Former ceo of Pearson Marjorie Scardino joined the board of Twitter yesterday. She joined Twitter as a user, too: @marjscar

In distribution news, Simon & Schuster will handle sales and fulfillment for all adult titles published by Reader’s Digest as of January 1. S&S has handled sales and fulfillment for Reader’s Digest Children’s titles since 1999. Penguin has distributed the adult titles in the US, and in Canada they have been sold by Ampersand and distributed by Georgetown Terminal Warehouses.

Filed Under: Distribution, Free, Personnel

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login

Forgot Password Quick Pass User Login
Get Full Access
The Publishing Industry’s Essential Daily Read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Spotify Connects Music to 33 1/3 Audiobooks May 13, 2025 Spotify
  • In Soft Art Market, Riggio Collection Garners $272 Million at Christie's, Below Estimates May 13, 2025 NYT
  • The New Yorker On The Fiction Being Published On Substack May 12, 2025 The New Yorker
  • Wiley Announces Deal As Perplexity's First Education AI Partner, For Institutions to Interact with Wiley's Content May 8, 2025 Press Release
  • Following Apple's Court Loss On Requiring Commissions for In-App Purchases, Kindle App is Updated with "Get Book" Purchase Button May 6, 2025 The Verge
  • BLUEY: THE SIGN, Book Based on Most-Watched Bluey Episode Ever, Publishes November 4 May 6, 2025 Press release
  • BBC Creates Zombie AI "Agatha Christie" to Teach Writing Online May 1, 2025 Guardian
  • Keith McNally Let Jay McInerney Use The Odeon Sign for Free on The Cover of Bright Lights, Big City Since He Didn't Think It Would Sell April 28, 2025 NYT review
  • Neil Gaiman Files Arbitration Demand, Seeking $500,000 From One of His Accusers For Violating Her NDA In Speaking Out April 21, 2025 Vulture
  • Union, Authors, and More Call on Harper Collins to Support the IMLS April 21, 2025 Open Letter
Publishers Marketplace logo

Contact Us

News

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Report News
  • Discuss
  • Classifieds
  • Rights Offerings

Deals

  • Report A Deal

Books

  • Buzz Books

Jobs

  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy Terms of Use