Lisa Lucas and Reagan Arthur, part of PRH’s Knopf Group, were let go earlier this week. Both editors were high-profile hires and fairly new to the Big Five publisher. Arthur was selected by the late Sonny Mehta to take his place, and she joined in early 2020; Arthur hired Lucas later that year.
An anonymous source tells the New York Times it was a “cost-saving” measure, which is certainly not the whole story. Read Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris (gift link). Kathleen Schmidt at Publishing Confidential reads the tea leaves, saying, “It’s never about becoming more ‘nimble’ or ‘realigning the business.’ It’s more political, and most of us in the industry know that. The truth is not pretty. If a CEO departs, the publishers they hire are more likely to be under a microscope. If a publisher departs, editors and other staff they hired could be on the chopping block. It is less about cost-cutting and more about likability, alliances, etc. When things are good at an imprint, they are great. When they are bad, watch your back.”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
