Sean Manning Named the New Publisher of Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster announced today that Sean Manning is the new Publisher of the company’s flagship imprint, effective immediately.

Manning joined Simon & Schuster in 2016 and was named Vice President, Executive Editor in 2022. During his tenure he has published multiple New York Times bestselling works by authors including Howard Stern, Bob Dylan, Jerry Seinfeld, James Lee Burke, Sebastian Junger, Val Kilmer, Alex Trebek, and Jennette McCurdy, whose 2022 memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, became a publishing phenomenon, spending eighty-eight weeks on the bestseller list and selling more than three million copies across all formats.

The runaway success of McCurdy’s memoir proved Manning’s ability to publish books that reach untapped readerships, particularly young people, and also demonstrated his commitment to publishing singular female voices, including bestsellers by Julia Fox and Anna Marie Tendler, and the forthcoming memoir from One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz, Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!).

“In our one hundred years, the Simon & Schuster imprint has only had twelve publishers, starting with Richard Simon,” said CEO Jonathan Karp. “It’s been my honor to have led our flagship imprint for twelve deeply satisfying years—so satisfying that I wanted to keep working with this outstanding group of people even when it was time to turn my attention to the CEO job. It is just as satisfying to pass the baton to someone as talented and innovative as Sean, who has the most enterprising editorial imagination I have seen in my years at Simon & Schuster. I am certain that he will provide vision, vitality, and leadership for the authors and colleagues who make the imprint such a great place to work.”

Manning is well regarded as an entrepreneurial editor with an eye for stories that capture the zeitgeist. He has routinely approached authors and worked with them to develop their books, including Stern, Trebek, legendary comedian Steven Wright (Harold), and photographer Beth Garrabrant (Things Shouldn’t Be So Hard). He oversaw the redesign and relaunch of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s catalog, commissioning new introductions by a varied and impressive group including Rachel Kushner, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Johnny Knoxville, Lars Ulrich, Sturgill Simpson, and Tim Heidecker. At Simon & Schuster, Manning’s acquisitions have exemplified the imprint’s dedication to publishing a wide range of books for a variety of readers, and have included not only memoirs but literary and commercial fiction, investigative journalism, politics, true crime, cultural criticism, music, photography, and humor.

“I cherish the imprint’s storied history, its literary integrity, and its commitment to publishing work that documents the past, leads the current cultural conversation, and envisions the future,” said Manning. “As we contend with so many alternate modes of information and entertainment, I’m exhilarated by the challenge of figuring out ways to reach new and younger readers—and show them why books remain the greatest technology ever invented.”

Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Manning held roles at Popular Mechanics, helping it earn a National Magazine Award nomination in feature writing, and the United Airlines in-flight magazine Rhapsody, which the New York Times described as “the Paris Review of the air.” At Rhapsody he edited works by authors including Joyce Carol Oates, Roxane Gay, Karen Russell, Rick Moody, Sloane Crosley, Claire Vaye Watkins, Emily St. John Mandel, and Kristin Hannah. He has also edited several anthologies featuring original contributions by the likes of Ray Bradbury, Jennifer Egan, Anthony Doerr, Chuck Klosterman, Susan Choi, Sigrid Nunez, Ishmael Reed, Andrew Sean Greer, Karen Joy Fowler, Dani Shapiro, Julia Glass, and J. Courtney Sullivan. Manning holds an MFA in fiction writing from The New School; has contributed longform journalism to GQ, Esquire, Playboy, and The Village Voice; and is the author of the memoir The Things That Need Doing. He lives in New York.

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Simon & Schuster, a global leader in general interest publishing, is dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Adams Media, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and VBK in the Netherlands and Belgium. It proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.