Listening to tales of the career experiences of successful professionals in publishing is always inspiring, and I felt that in spades about last night’s event put on by the New York Book Forum, held in Hachette’s sleek offices in Midtown Manhattan. The event was a shared conversation between two major figures in the book business, Victoria Wilson, an editor at Knopf for five decades, and Jane Friedman, publishing and marketing maestra who was with Knopf for twenty-nine years, then at HarperCollins, and was more recently the founder of Open Road Media. Between them, they embody a combined century of publishing experience.

The evening got off to a convivial start with an unexpectedly generous cocktail period that stretched past a half hour. I had taken a chair, but took part in making the rounds, too. Post-pandemic, I think people are so pleased to be in social settings that no one was in a hurry to start the program, even though we were all eager for it to begin.

Once everyone was settled, Vicky Wilson began by talking about her father, who was a writer, and she said among her family’s circle of acquaintances were family names like Boni and Liveright who operated the Boni & Liveright company, a publisher of some distinction. She got hired at Knopf in 1973, in the editorial department, soon became a full-fledged editor, and never went elsewhere. At one point, she sought permission from her boss, Bob Gottlieb, to attend a writer’s conference out west in Squaw Valley, Idaho. Gottlieb agreed, though told her he doubted she’d find any writers there to publish. In fact, that’s where she met Anne Rice, whose first novel, Interview With A Vampire, she would then edit and publish. Among other things, the book became a bestseller in hardcover, and the paperback rights were sold in an auction among mass-market publishers for more money than any novel to that point. Wilson recounted sitting on a couch in Gottlieb’s office as the paperback bids ascended, astonished that this all was happening. Among Wilson’s authors is one we have in common, humanitarian and photojournalist Ruth Gruber (1911-2016). Wilson described her career as a constant education in life and in business. Life, because as an editor you’re always encountering some new thing you were not apt to have known it before, and business, because you need to have at least a modicum of business sense, even though you may be more passionately interested in content and writing than the nuts & bolts of the operation.

Jane Friedman related how she came to Random House for an interview with the personnel director where, without blushing, she stated that she wanted to be in charge of something at the company.  She started working with the longtime head of Publicity, Bill Loverd, and not too long after that became head of what was then known as the Promotion department. In that role, she minted—with Julia Child as the author—the first city-to-city author tour to promote a new book. The tour for Mastering the Art of French Cooking visited many major cities, supported by local morning show TV spots and well-attended signings in the book departments of major department stores, where the inimitable Julia would do a cooking demonstration. Friedman later started Random House Audio, the first audio division at a major book publisher.

Their personal monologues very quickly evolved into a stimulating back & forth, with some ribbing and joking about each other’s exploits, achievements, and work styles. It made for a delightful conversation. And everyone who came to see and hear them had a chance to engage and ask questions. I was especially pleased that many Knopf veterans were on hand, including Nicholas Latimer, Kathy Hourigan, Martha Kaplan, Andy Hughes, and Vicky Wilson’s assistant Melinda.

For readers of this blog, who may be interested, Bob Gottlieb, at Knopf for many years, is the author of a memoir about his years in publishing, a book I highly recommend. It’s titled Avid Reader, and I wrote an essay about it published here on The Great Gray Bridge, titled “Avidly Reading Bob Gottlieb’s Avid Reader.”

I’ll watch for other events put on by New York Book Forum, whose director, Peggy Samedi, spoke at the beginning of the program. She said they want to bring back events like this for publishing people to take part in, now that we’ve finally all emerged from Covid isolation. I say, three cheers for that!