People 5/13

SVP, corporate communications Adam Rothberg “has decided to end his 35-year tenure on a high note” and will retire at the end of July. He has worked at the company in corporate communications since 1999. CEO Jonathan Karp writes, “For the past 25 years, he has been exemplary, overseeing all of our internal communications and external media relations as a savvy and straight-shooting spokesperson who has long held the trust and respect of the publishing beat journalists.”

Karp notes, “Adam has been the one to make our public comments more graceful and gracious and our written remarks more thoughtful and memorable. Adam’s empathetic and strategic approach to his work has informed our policies and helped make Simon & Schuster’s leadership more connected to the concerns of our employees and authors…. On numerous occasions, Adam has correctly anticipated the questions we might hear – internally or externally – and framed constructive responses. Some people in Adam’s line of work are good at putting out fires, but Adam is so attuned to the subtleties of the publishing business that he’s often on the scene before there’s even a puff of smoke.”

He also clarifies, “During one of the many political book controversies of 2020 and 2021, it was Adam who wrote, ‘We come to work each day to publish, not cancel.’ It has always bothered me that I got credit for that artful phrasing; it was Adam’s.”

Head of publishing Claire Murdoch and non-fiction publisher Rachel Eadie will leave the company in the coming months due to restructuring. The Spinoff reports that another eight positions are also being eliminated.

“There have been significant shifts in our cost structure, along with tough economic conditions and evolving consumer behavior, so we felt it was necessary to adapt our business for future success,” New Zealand director Becky Innes said in a statement.

Grace Thomas will become adult book publisher.

Anna Skrabacz has joined as associate director of marketing, reporting to associate publisher and director of publicity Josie Kals. She was at Pushkin Industries.

Sara O’Keeffe has joined as an affiliate literary agent, moving over from Aevitas Creative Management UK.