At the head of the British subsidiary of the Simon & Schuster group since 2000, Ian Chapman began his career at the end of the 1980s at McMillan in the United States. This Francophile spent part of his studies in France before marrying a French woman and taking up the profession of publisher, for which he has some international successes, such as recently Colleen Hoover, David Grann and the British comedian Bob Mortimer. Discreet in the media, he confides for the first time in Weekly Bookswhile his group was bought less than a year ago by the international investment fund KKR, after a first attempt at acquisition by Penguin Random House, rejected by the American justice system at the end of 2022 .
Weekly Books: Former Hachette CEO Arnaud Nourry has just announced the creation of a group in France, Les nouvelles éditions, in partnership with Simon & Schuster. What do you expect from your side?
Ian Chapman : I don’t know personally Arnaud Nourry but I admire him a lot for who he is and what he has accomplished at Hachette. He was a very good friend of Carolyn Reidy (CEO of Simon & Schuster from 2008 until his death in 2020, editor’s note) and I think that, from where she is, she is delighted with this partnership because they spent a lot of time together, particularly some time before we went on sale, and were thinking about a possible collaboration… I know that Arnaud has a very original, deeply dynamic approach to publishing and that his qualities can contribute to our respective groups. However, it is still early to know how this collaboration will take place, but with the acquisition of the Dutch publishing leader VBK (announced in May, editor’s note), it is a way for our owner KKR to enter new markets, particularly in Europe.
It’s been less than a year since you were bought by the KKR fund after several months of upheaval. How is this new start going for Simon & Schuster with an actor who was previously foreign to the publishing world?
KKR’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster came at the right time, particularly for the subsidiaries I manage, in the United Kingdom, India and Australia. With KKR, we are in an exceptional growth dynamic, with a solid financial base that allows us to invest substantially, while remaining independent. We have strengthened our teams by more than 20% – there are currently 168 of us in the United Kingdom – and we are in the process of structuring the group with transatlantic brands. Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books and Scribner for adult literature are now joined by Free Press and Summit Books.
“KKR will sell us in seven or eight years? Yes, but at least it’s clear”
The KKR group supports us in our development and we wish to turn more towards the children’s and early childhood literature markets, in particular with the creation of Gallery Kids. We have strengthened the editorial team, but also the marketing and sales teams with twelve new positions. We have confidence with the shareholder and we know why he is there: to ensure our expansion to be able to sell to a larger and more influential group.
How do you project yourself with this idea of being resold in a term that could be quite short?
You know, we’ve been up for sale for two and a half years! It’s very long. How did I manage this with the teams? I told them to focus on their work today which will have a positive impact tomorrow, because for the rest there is nothing to do. What happened ? All the talent of our teams was then revealed because we were already in a competitive spirit also linked to the economic situation since the pandemic. We were subsequently voted Publisher of the Year in 2022 and 2023 at the British Book Awards as our sales were exceptional throughout this period.
“We must make each book as profitable as possible”
So obviously not everyone likes change and my role is precisely to reassure those around me. But the dynamic is for us: we are not in the process of laying off employees, but in the process of hiring them and that is why I said previously that this change came at the right time because there are five or six years ago, it would not have been the same dynamic. KKR will sell to us in seven or eight years? Yes, but at least it’s clear, there are no ambiguities and everyone is focused on the development of the group.
In France, editorial overproduction is becoming an important subject, particularly with the announcement by Hachette’s management to reduce its production – at a global level – of titles, already mentioned by the new Editis management… Are you also concerned by this subject?
Obviously we know that KKR bought us at a certain level and wants to sell us at a higher level. So how to grow? We must publish more obviously, but in an intelligent way while avoiding overproduction, which is a real problem. Our strategy is to acquire the best publishers, whether individuals or companies, and continue the way we have been operating for five years, with the same discipline and robustness. Because what matters is the book, and around the book there is a team. You have to make each book as profitable as possible and that’s what we’re currently striving to do because I know full well that publishing a lot for the sake of publishing a lot is not a good strategy.
What is your view on the role of literary agents, much more present in your Anglo-Saxon markets than in France?
We view agents as partners and enjoy working together collaboratively to ensure the success of our authors and their books. We are increasingly developing editorial planning with authors, their agents and the editorial team, once the book is written. We then discuss and debate the production, release, etc. But it is the publisher who keeps control of the editorial.
: “Turn more towards children’s literature”){kind=link}