136: What Simon & Schuster’s Superstar Book Editor & Publisher Jonathan Karp Did To Build His Career [Main T4C episode]

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Jonathan Karp is President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing. In this role he has overall responsibility for Simon & Schuster’s New York–based adult trade publishing, which includes Atria Books, Gallery Books, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, Touchstone and their associated sub-imprints and lines, and he reports directly to President and CEO Carolyn Reidy. He is also Publisher of the Simon & Schuster trade imprint. Jonathan was previously Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, and Editor-in-Chief of Random House, where he began his publishing career in 1989 as an editorial assistant and worked for sixteen years. Before moving into publishing, Jonathan worked as a journalist at newspapers like The Washington Post, The Providence Journal, and The Miami Herald.  

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• What’s the difference between a book editor and a book publisher and why sometimes they’re the same person
• What it takes to be a book editor (hint: it’s eloquence, passion, and ability to communicate)
• What it means to be a generalist and why it’s an important quality of a good editor
• What it means to “hire your own boss” and how it can help advance your career
• How you can curate a top-notch group of authors
• Why certain books break out and others don’t
• How having courage in meetings might change your career path