How would you describe the course of your path to book publishing and PRH, including practical, professional, and educational? [caption id="attachment_29865" align="alignright" width="300"] Henry, one of Matt's cats.[/caption] Well, my path to publishing has been an unusual one. In the ‘90s I dropped out of law school and fell into a series of entry-level media and marketing positions. In order to help make ends meet, I also worked in a bar at nights – sometimes working in the office from 8AM to 5PM and then in the bar from 9PM to 3AM. I was always a huge reader, especially of horror fiction, but I was completely broke and couldn’t afford to buy many of the books I wanted, in particular a lot of cutting-edge fiction coming out of small presses. So in my spare time, I taught myself some very basic HTML (thank you Microsoft Front Page!) and then proceeded to contact several dozen horror authors and small presses, offering to give them free simple webpages promoting them or their books in exchange for free books.

Surprisingly, the response was pretty overwhelming. Many genre top small presses (Cemetery Dance, Subterranean Press) took me up on my offer, as well as many authors, including George R. R. Martin (prior to A GAME OF THRONES becoming a phenomenon). Ultimately, I created an online hub for all of these sites to make it easy for fans to browse them all, and then I added very early forum software allowing some authors to interact directly with fans. I also dove into the science fiction and horror convention community, giving me a lot more access to authors directly.

Unbeknownst to me, Barnes and Noble was starting their website and looking for people to help get it off the ground, and they contacted me about coming to work for them as an editor for their genre category content. From there, I became the site’s editorial director, and then spent another decade moving around, including a couple of e-commerce gigs focusing on comic books and graphic novels and running my own online horror bookstore, Shocklines, for years before being approached by Simon & Schuster to do digital marketing for them. After a short time there, I jumped to Random House, where it took me a few years to really find my place and carve out a job using my prior experience of looking at consumer behavior on ecommerce sites, as well as generating online buzz and awareness with minimal spending. When coming up with a digital strategy, what are some of the main aspects you take into consideration? Most of my team’s time is spent studying our online retailer partners and figuring out the best ways to optimize our online sales – whether that’s through discoverability or increasing the likelihood that someone purchases the book once they land on the product page. What makes the job interesting is that these retailer sites are changing their algorithms and design all the time, forcing us to pivot our best practices and adapt quickly. A lot of what occurs at online retailers is out of our control – so it can be a bit stressful when trying to find a creative solution to a problem we didn’t create. It’s like playing a game where the rules are changing every day. What have been some of the highlights of your PRH job and work life so far? Has anything surprised you? [caption id="attachment_29866" align="alignleft" width="300"] Matt with authors (l to r) Jack Ketchum, Christopher Golden, Hank Wagner, Phil Nutman, and Neil Gaiman.[/caption] The highlights have been the wonderful people I get to work with every day. My job allows me to interact with people in every department in our division as well as countless people in the corporate groups and also other publishing divisions, and I love it. I’ve had many, many jobs in my life, and this is the first time I’ve stayed with a company more than a few years -- I’ve been here 14 years now. I credit that to my coworkers as well as amazing, visionary, supportive managers in our division from the top down who were willing to take chances on putting resources into optimizing online retail long before it was as a big of the marketplace as it is now.

The other major highlight of PRH is that the company as a whole has a very open data structure, allowing everyone in the company access to a ton of data on every title even if it’s not one they work on, or if it’s a part of the business that doesn’t directly impact their day-to-day job. That kind of data availability makes it much easier for people to explore all aspects of publishing and really figure out what they want to do in their careers – myself included. And for those who have not worked at many places – I will say that level of sharing data is rare indeed. Tell us about your hobbies! How do they inform your work-life balance? [caption id="attachment_29867" align="alignright" width="300"] The pinball championship.[/caption] The one hobby that certainly informs my work-life balance is that I am addicted to board games. In the ‘90s, I was obsessed with pinball (having placed in the amateur division for the world championships at one point), but as that artform died away, I replaced it with board games, primarily European ones. It ties into my job nicely, which as I mentioned before, is basically a game whose rules change every day. I’m actually not incredibly competitive – but I love the experience of playing and gradually getting better, and being patient that it may take time to come up with the right strategy to excel. [caption id="attachment_29868" align="alignleft" width="225"] Matt's tattooed arm.[/caption] My other hobbies don’t really factor into my job as much. I’m a bit of a thrill seeker, zip-lining and trying to hit as many roller coasters in the country as possible. I still devour horror fiction as well as horror movies, and each year I become a little bit more tattooed, with my body essentially serving as one big art piece of monstrous and alien lifeforms bursting out from beneath the skin. On the less-disturbing side, I adore all animals, including the two cats and dog that let me and my partner live with them. Tell us about George R. R. Martin!  My dealings with George in the ‘90s was purely through email, and they were all incredibly friendly and appreciative. For people who know him purely through A GAME OF THRONES, it may be hard to understand why I was in such awe that I got to do a couple of early webpages for him. In addition to his early fiction (I think “Sandkings” remains of the greatest horror/SF novellas ever written), he also had written a bunch of episodes of the ‘80s edition of Twilight Zone, which was terribly underrated and absolutely contains some of the best Twilight Zone content of all time.

Ultimately, as the web exploded and my own jobs changed, many authors ultimately took on doing their own websites to allow them more flexibility and provide real-time updates, so I didn’t speak to him for more than a decade. But at Random House, I was once again working on various aspects of his online presence for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. At one point, George came into the office and I finally got to meet him face to face, at which point I explained that I was the same guy who did his first early webpage to which he responded “Holy sh*t, you’re THAT Matt Schwartz?”

Frankly, that early work I did for authors and publishers has time and time again come back to provide invaluable connections and insight into the present day. While back in the 90s it was a lot of work done in exchange for books, it has been the origin for so many of my closest friendships.

How would you describe the course of your path to Penguin Random House, including practical, professional, and educational? I graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and French and my first job post-graduation was as an English teacher under the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), a program sponsored by the Cultural Services sector of the French Embassy in the United States. In Lyon, France, I taught English in a technical high school and middle school for 9 months. At the time I was interested in pursuing translation and joined a French to English translation team at my church in Lyon which was a great experience; learning to do this was very humbling and taught me to be patient with myself when learning a new skill. When I returned to the US, I worked for 2 ½ years at the Alliance Française in Washington, DC — a French language and cultural center with classes and events. During this time I became interested in publishing after I read a book where the main character was an editor. With no information on or connections to the industry, I spent the next two years taking online editing classes, interning in the editorial department at a small publishing house in DC called Island Press, and freelancing to gain experience. I was accepted to the Columbia Publishing Course in March of 2020 and after several postponements, decided to pursue another internship. It was while interning with Melville House that I reignited my love for marketing and social media, and that job is what led me to Penguin Press, where I became part of the team in February 2021. You're the original creator of the Penguin Press Adult TikTok account. What was most surprising about this endeavor for you? This is a great question! The most surprising aspect of being the face of the Penguin Press TikTok account is how intense the learning curve is! I spent countless time on YouTube and asking my Penguin friends at ATP for advice before we really took off. I didn’t set out make something big of the platform, but have found that I really enjoy it as a creative outlet against my other responsibilities at Penguin Press. The fact that it’s also a very informal platform—which somewhat goes against the kind of books we publish—has been interesting because we are primarily known for publishing serious nonfiction. It’s been nice to bring the name Penguin Press to new audiences that are on the app. It’s also a LOT of work, but I appreciate this challenge. What book has excited you the most in your marketing career? Why? For this I have two answers. The first is Irish poet Sean Hewitt’s memoir, ALL DOWN DARKNESS WIDE. This was my first solo marketing project so naturally I feel an affinity toward it. I was so moved by Hewitt’s journey and vulnerability that it was really an honor to bring this book to many LGBTQ+-identifying people who have unknowingly been seeking to read about an experience similar to their own. It was wonderful to get creative with this project! I couldn’t stop talking about this breathtaking book that my cousin even gifted me a pair of earrings of the book cover! The second has to be Celeste Ng’s newest novel, OUR MISSING HEARTS. It’s exciting to be part of a really big project like this where you have lots of resources on-hand, people involved, and a lot of creative ideas to play with. Helping my team successfully bring this to publication has taught me a lot of new skills. I organized a book drop with Little Free Libraries which was the first book drop Penguin Press has done. Being able to do a few “firsts” like this has been rewarding. What advice would you give to folk interesting in pursuing the marketing side of publishing?  Marketing is all about bringing a book to a consumer, or if you want to get more passionate about it, bringing stories to readers. I’ve always loved and appreciated the enthusiasm of readers, and getting to interact with them by sharing powerful and important books is wonderful. For people interested in marketing, I’d say have an open mind and don’t be afraid to bring ideas to the table. Sometimes the best ideas come from brainstorming as a group, and I’ve learned to share my ideas even if they seem improbable or not right for a particular book. It’s always worth sharing in case something inspirational comes from it. Being willing to try new things also goes a long way; this I learned from maintaining our TikTok account. When friends of mine used to send me TikTok videos, I avoided watching because I didn’t want to get caught up in yet another social media app. I also had a misconstrued vision of what the app provided. I didn’t expect that I’d first download TikTok for work, but by giving it a chance I allowed myself to be vulnerable, in a way, and engage with readers in a whole new light.  

How would you describe the course of your path to Penguin Random House, including practical, professional, and educational? [caption id="attachment_29428" align="alignright" width="300"] Shooting.[/caption] My path to PRH is a bit of a mixed bag. I’ve worked in hospitality, retail, medical, sales, and actually have my own photography business. My degree is in photography, and I was lucky enough to score an internship at an art gallery, which was very different than I thought it would be in the best possible way (one of my exhibition breakdowns included patching and painting 2,500 holes in the gallery ceiling!). I spent a total of 6 years working at my college bookstore, first as a student employee on the work study program, and then transitioned into a management position there after graduating. During those years, I discovered a different kind of love for books, and realized then that I’d love working in the publishing industry. At the time, I was sure I’d have to move out of my beloved Colorado and head to New York for a job in publishing, and because my family, friends, and roots are here in Colorado, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. Fast forward to how I got my foot in the door with advertising. A former colleague from the bookstore reached out to me because she was recruiting for a Media Consultant role, which happened to be something I’d always been curious about, but hadn’t pursued. I ended up getting the job, and found a new love – advertising! I kept thinking about how I may be able to someday merge my excitement for advertising with my love of books. [caption id="attachment_29429" align="alignleft" width="300"] Looking at Telluride from BB Pass.[/caption] I learned that there was an office in Colorado for the WaterBrook and Multnomah imprints of Penguin Random House, which brought me a little closer to making my hope a reality. I signed up for job alerts, and about 6 months later, received an email alerting me that there was an assistant position open at WaterBrook and Multnomah. I interviewed, was offered the job, and enthusiastically accepted! It’s been 5 and a half years since then, and I’ve spent 2 and a half of those years on the advertising team working on Random House divisional title campaigns. I work on titles published by Ten Speed, Clarkson Potter, Harmony, Rodale, Convergent, WaterBrook, Multnomah, Image, and Crown Forum, and I absolutely love it! My path wasn’t necessarily a straight one, but I’m so grateful to have found my way here! You've had several positions at PRH, how did you navigate to arrive at your current role? And what advice would you give to others who are seeking their dream roles within the company? I’ve greatly valued my unique opportunity to have several positions on several teams at PRH! I wanted to learn as much as I could in the beginning of my career here, allowing me to have a baseline understanding of multiple layers of the publishing industry and ultimately, to find my dream role here. I’d say I found my path to my current role by being curious, open-minded, and adaptable, and that’s what I’d suggest to others! Take advantage of the many learning opportunities offered through the company, too! What are your personal passions and how do they influence your work at PRH? [caption id="attachment_29430" align="alignright" width="300"] Ouray, Colorado.[/caption] I mentioned in a previous answer that I live in Colorado, and one of my biggest passions is enjoying an outdoor lifestyle. There are abundant opportunities here in CO to get outside! I enjoy connecting with nature through camping, hiking, and Jeeping. I always have my camera with me, and am always looking for a landscape that speaks to me, or a piece of architecture that’s abandoned and being reclaimed by nature to photograph. My German Shepherd mix, Izzy, is my adventure buddy, and she loves exploring and tagging along on my trips! One of my favorite things to do while camping, hiking, or spending quiet time outdoors is to read. I find such rejuvenation from nature, and it’s the perfect time to settle in with a good book. One of my favorite genres to read is mystery/suspense/thriller, so that’s often what I’ll have with me. But I also take books that I’m advertising on the adventure with me, such as cookbooks, inspirational nonfiction, gift books, and many others, so that I can get to know them. I’ve built memories of reading books at some of my favorite outdoor spots, and the two coupled together make for a unique and special passion! What's the best part about being a remote employee? I’m going to start sounding redundant here, but being remote means no commute/traffic at the end of the work day, which allows Izzy and me to hit the trails right after work while there’s still plenty of daylight! What book are you taking with you on your next camping trip? Joining me on my next trip will be GET OUTSIDE: A JOURNAL FOR REFRESHING YOUR SPIRIT IN NATURE by Ink & Willow, GO-TO DINNERS by Ina Garten, and HIDE by Kiersten White.

How would you describe your leap to Penguin Random House and why now?  [caption id="attachment_29301" align="alignright" width="294"] Ximena's Bucket List (created in High School)[/caption] I started at Penguin Random House on August 1, 2022, but this milestone was years in the making. Books have shaped my life from a young age. They’ve been a place where I’ve found escapism, inspiration, and connection. My dream has always been to work in publishing and to one day become a book editor. I cemented this goal as a high school senior when asked to create a bucket list for my life. I used this as motivation while pursuing my bachelor’s degree in communications at the University of North Florida. I’ve carried this dream with me and kept it at the forefront of my mind with every step in my career. It’s a blessing to know exactly what you want to be doing, but it gets painful when you realize you’re not living in that reality. Like so many others, the pandemic shook up my life. It caused me to retreat inward and reevaluate what’s important. My anxiety was at an all-time high, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was meant to be doing more. I asked myself if I was living in my purpose and aligned with my passions. I knew I needed to make a change. On May 3, 2022, I turned in my resignation at my full-time job of nearly three years to pursue turning this dream into a reality. This decision was met with voices of concern as I was turning down a salary, benefits, and stability with no job prospects in sight. Nevertheless, I persisted forward. Despite the unknown road ahead of me, I trusted my gut telling me that this was the right decision. I took up dog walking and dog sitting as a part-time job and hit the ground running. I applied to as many publishing jobs, including internships, as I could and to jobs within the vicinity of books, such as at libraries and bookstores. I was determined to get my foot in the door, and I wasn’t afraid to start at the bottom to do so. On June 19, 2022, I applied to a Marketing Assistant role at Penguin Press. This was exactly one month from my last day of work with my former company. I wrote in my journal that night about the position and made a bold claim: I am going to get this role. What attracted you to the company, and what have been some of the highlights of your PRH job and work life so far? [caption id="attachment_29302" align="alignleft" width="221"] Elementary school bookfair.[/caption] Since I was young, I’ve had a ritual with every book I read; I open the front cover and flip to see who published it. Penguin Random House became a name I cherished as it was responsible for so many of my favorite books. It transformed into a symbol of importance in my life that represented purpose. I dreamt that one day I would align myself with a company dedicated to producing meaningful work and bringing stories into the world. Penguin Random House’s commitment to creating a positive impact on the world by making the best books of their kind is what has kept me laser focused on my mission to join them all these years. On my first day of work, I kept feeling like I was going to burst into happy tears just by the sight of my email address. From day one, everyone in the company has been so welcoming, and you can feel how many people value working here. I feel lucky that Penguin Press is the imprint I work for as they’re responsible for publishing so many impactful books. There is never a shortage of manuscripts to read, and each story is unique and enriching in its own way. I’m thankful to be working with a team of veterans I can constantly learn from and collaborate with. I love that my job keeps me on my toes every day. It is always challenging me to understand, grow, and think of fresh ideas for each unique title. Above all, the true highlight of my work life has simply been having a seat at the table. Knowing how long it’s taken me to get here and how many others wish to be here as well, I don’t take a second of it for granted. What is the most surprising thing you've learned about publishing thus far? [caption id="attachment_29304" align="alignright" width="225"] Hidden gem of a bookstore in Greece[/caption] The most surprising thing I’ve learned about publishing so far is the number of moving parts that go into publishing a book. From start to finish, there are several different teams working together to see this project come to life. Whether it’s editorial, creative, marketing, publicity, sales, or the warehouse, each is a vital piece in the puzzle. Each task requires meticulousness and flexibility knowing that things can change on a dime. A title can suddenly be postponed or be released earlier than anticipated, and you must pivot to accommodate those changes. I was also surprised to learn how far in the future you can be working on books. Your present-day work may include titles that will be publishing two years from now, but there is still work to be done up to that point. I truly learn something new every day in my job, and I look forward to uncovering even more about this industry that I love so much. Tell us more about your podcast! What motivates you to pursue this passion? [caption id="attachment_29305" align="alignleft" width="300"] Podcast Branding.[/caption] My best friend, Alexis, and I have a podcast together called Inside Out. It’s something we talked about doing for years and finally pulled the trigger on in August of 2021. This show was born out of having so many conversations behind closed doors about our struggles, mental health, relationships, careers, friendships, etc. We would always turn to each other and ask, “Does anyone else feel this way? Is anyone else having these conversations?” This is how the name Inside Out came to be. By being vulnerable and sharing our “insides,” we hope people can feel less alone and see themselves in our stories. Alexis and I have different backgrounds and experiences, so we’re able to bring a unique perspective to the table, and listeners can usually find themselves nodding along to one of us. This podcast is purely a passion project, and what motivates me to keep going is connection. I am always in awe when someone shares what resonated with them during an episode or how it made them laugh. Knowing someone is choosing to listen to our show in their headphones is a privilege I don’t take for granted.

How would you describe the course of your path to book publishing and Penguin Random House, including practical, professional, and educational? My path to Penguin Random House began a long, long time ago.  I was an English major at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. When I graduated, I received an offer from the accounting department at Harry Winston, the jeweler on Fifth Avenue in New York; and for an entry-level job, the pay was pretty good. My parents said: If you want to hold out for a job in publishing, we support you. They knew how much I enjoyed reading.  Eventually, I was offered one of two jobs in the Dell / Delacorte managing editorial department:  as a managing editorial assistant, or as an in-house copy editor. I chose the managing editor job.  Within about two weeks, the man who hired me left, and I was on my own until someone new was hired to oversee the department. I discovered I had a knack for “keeping things on track,” since the staff looked to me, fresh out of college, for how to handle the workload.  That was in 1975.  So my journey is more of one through time, as opposed to places or companies.  Just imagine, if you can: There were no personal computers; there was no internet; no email; there weren’t even fax machines. People still listened to music on eight-track tapes. My desk had a telephone and a (broken) typewriter. That was it. The shelves and cubbyholes near my desk, where work would come in from production and go back out after being marked up, were piled high with long galleys sheets and jacket mechanicals. (Jacket copy was sent out to a vendor for setting; and then the art department had to paste the pieces onto long cardboard mechanical boards; corrections were marked on a tissue overlay.) On a few occasions, when books were “crash,” the editor, a copyeditor, and I had to travel to the compositor and stay overnight to check the galley sheets, as they got printed.  What have been some of the highlights of your PRH job and work life so far? Eventually I worked with both adult titles and young adult books for Delacorte Press. In the early years, I worked with Eleanor Friede, who published Jonathan Livingston Seagull; and Jeanne Bernkopf, a very well-respected editor in the industry, who edited James Clavell. Two of the other brilliant people I worked with were Seymour (Sam) Lawrence, who had his own imprint and published Kurt Vonnegut, among many other authors; and his wife, Merloyd Lawrence, who only recently passed away. She was responsible for the landmark, seminal four-color book, A Child Is Born by Lennart Nilsson. I think I am only one left who knows—the Swedish files were sent to the wrong address in NYC; thankfully I was able to track them down as the nice folks where they were sent figured out where they were supposed to go. People like Sam and Merloyd helped shape my publishing career.  Typed manuscripts in boxes were the order of the day for many, many years. (I do have a fond memory of Diana Gabaldon’s editor, Jackie Cantor, stopping by my office many times to put more and more of the OUTLANDER manuscript on my floor; it was too big for a box.)  Eventually my job became part of Bantam Doubleday Dell.   Of course, years passed, I grew older, and the way we all work changed seismically. Typewriters gave way to word processors and floppy disks; I eventually worked in WordPerfect, with a black screen and orange type, and used dot matrix printers. I recall being called in for a demonstration / presentation about CDs. There was oohing and ahhing over how much information could be contained on CDs—a whole encyclopedia!! Wow! And eventually the World Wide Web came into play in the late eighties/early nineties. I worked with Carole Baron, a giant in publishing … and I’m pretty sure that somewhere around 1996 or so, a young woman named Madeline McIntosh joined our editorial meeting to talk about new media.  I had a brief break in 1999, when some BDD departments, such as managing editorial, were combined. Thankfully, a managing editorial job opened up in Dutton Adult books in 2000, where I worked once again with Carole Baron, and Brian Tart, the best anyone could hope for. Maeve Binchy, bless her soul, Danielle Steel, Tracy Chevalier, Elmore Leonard, Harlan Coben, Ken Follett, Eric Jerome Dickey, Fiona Davis—these are just some of the authors whose books I’ve had the pleasure to work on and help steer through the publishing path. I love that being in managing editorial gives you a real education in / overview of the entire publishing process, from editorial to production to marketing to inventory, and other departments as well.  How do you view the future, in terms of personal aspirations and career goals?    Desktop computers; laptops; ebooks; PDFs; email; the internet; Google; cloud storage; TikTok; Zoom; a pandemic that changed how we all work forever; long-overdue DEI initiatives—all came about in my decades of work.  But publishing itself? It’s still about books. Books people love to read. I am eternally grateful for that day in 1975 when I was hired to WORK ON BOOKS! Could anything be any better? And here I am, still at PRH, as an executive managing editor for Dutton, Plume, and Tiny Reparations Books, working with Meredith Dros, Christine Ball, Jill Schwartzman, and John Parsley, among (many talented) others, which is a truly marvelous thing. My long and happy years associated with PRH have taught me that the world may change, companies may merge, technology may change, but people will always read books. As long as I am involved in that in some way (and if the Mets win another World Series), my life is happy.  What's your desert island book? I’d take ALL of Dutton’s Riley Sager books with me to read on a cozy couch on a desert Island.