NEW YORK, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Carole Baron, former president of G.P.
Putnam's Sons and Dutton, is joining Bookspan as Senior Vice President and
Publishing Director, a new position. Ms. Baron is scheduled to join Bookspan,
the premiere direct marketer of general interest and specialty book clubs, on
April 4th and will report to Markus Wilhelm, Bookspan Chief Executive Officer
and President. She will also be a member of Bookspan's Senior Management
Group.
In her role, Ms. Baron will maintain and build Bookspan's strong
relationships within the publishing community, have a significant role with
club editors in many major negotiations for book club rights, and strengthen
Bookspan's editorial strategy, specifically address new approaches to
promoting books and improving cross-club usage.
Bookspan, a partnership of Bertelsmann AG and Time Warner Inc., operates
over 30 book clubs, including Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild,
Doubleday Book Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club as well as niche
clubs, including Mosaico, the Mystery Guild, Good Cook and Black Expressions.
Bookspan is a division of Bertelsmann's DirectGroup.
Ms. Baron has more than 25 years of publishing and senior management
experience and has one of the most impressive lists of best-selling authors,
some of whom she has edited personally. These authors include John Grisham,
Danielle Steel, Thomas Harris, Harlan Coben, Judy Blume, Tracy Chevalier, John
Lescroart, Nicolas Evans, Maeve Binchy and Elmore Leonard.
"Carole and I have gotten to know each other over years of negotiating
countless book deals and I have enormous respect for her," said Mr. Wilhelm.
"She is a valued executive in the publishing community and will help us
enormously in working with editors, sub rights directors, agents and, most
important, authors."
She was an early supporter of the DirectGroup's successful initiative, the
International Book of the Month, which was launched in 2003 with Harlan
Coben's "No Second Chance," which became a best seller.
Ms. Baron joined Penguin Group in 1999 as President of Dutton. She has
been President and Publisher of Dell/Delacorte Publishing, now a division of
Bertelsmann's Random House, since 1987. Prior to joining Dell in 1981, Ms.
Baron held positions at Holt, Dutton, Pocket Books and Crown.
Ms. Baron said, "I have long considered my role in publishing as a broker
between reader and writer. In these changing times, we have to think of new
ways to reach the reader and by joining Bookspan I will be able to combine its
approach to reaching the book buyer and my publishing experience to do just
that."
Ms. Baron joins Bookspan as the company moved its New York offices to the
Flatiron district. The new offices are located at 15 East 26th Street, New
York, N.Y. 10010 and the new main number is 212-651-7400.
About BOOKSPAN
BOOKSPAN is the premier direct marketer of general interest and specialty
book clubs. With more than 9 million members, its book clubs include Book-of-
the-Month Club, The Literary Guild, Quality Paperback Book Club, Doubleday
Book Club, and more than 30 others. Created in March 2000, BOOKSPAN is a
partnership between Doubleday Direct, Inc. (owned by Bertelsmann AG) and Book-
of-the-Month Club Holdings LLC (owned by Time Warner Inc.).
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