More About Martin Levin
Martin Levin is author of two books, All I Know About Management I Learned From My Dog and Letters from Angel, Counsel at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman of New York City, and has received the lifetime achievement award from the Association of American Publishers. He is also an educator, teaching Publishing Law at New York Law School and working as a Resident Fellow at the Yale (previously Stanford) Publishing Course. To learn more about Martin, visit his website at www.martinlevin.com.
IP: What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishments in the industry?
Martin:
1. I recognized talent. I had extraordinary support from the individuals that I asked to join with me. There are too many to cite but many of them are still living and they know who they are. We were a family and this made it possible to create great publishing companies.
2. Being a part of the opening up relationships with the authors and publishers in the Soviet Union and making it possible to have Readers Digest published without censorship in the Soviet Union.
3. Being a teacher at the Stanford Professional Publishing Course and being the facilitator to move Stanford to the Yale Publishing Course and thereby influencing the lives of young publishers throughout the world.
4. Becoming a lawyer at age 65 (after 4 years of night school) and helping 106 independent publishers, whose primary asset was their business, to sell these businesses so their work could continue.
5. Working with my wife to raise a family that each in their own way are making a contribution to society and continuing to do good.
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Feature
The I.P. Interview with Martin Levin
His Take on a 60+ Year Career in Publishing
You’ve seen Martin Levin in Independent Publisher before; after his inspirational talks at the Yale Publishing Course, Martin gave some tips to indie publishers in our article “Martin Levin’s Advice to Small Publishers.” This time around, I asked Martin if he would tell the story of his experiences in publishing, a career that has spanned more than 60 years and influenced thousands of readers and writers. As a former publishing executive (Senior Vice President at Grosset & Dunlap and CEO of Times-Mirror Book Company), a practicing attorney, and a newly published author, Martin is the perfect authority on all things book related.
IP: Tell us about your start in publishing.
Martin: While working for the War Department as a civilian in a program to convert the manufacturing plants from domestic to aircraft production, I met an army officer, Captain Manuel Siwek. He was assigned as my replacement as I joined the U.S. Infantry. In civilian life, Captain Siwek was the Sales Manager for Doubleday & Co. a major trade publisher. We worked together for six months and as I left for the Infantry, Siwek said, “Kid (I was 24) when you get out of the army I want you to work with me in publishing.” I thought this was a kind farewell but hardly expected to hear from him again. After the war, I was hired by the Veteran’s Administration and was very comfortably settled with a house, a loving wife, and two children for three years. Then I got a call from Manuel Siwek offering me the job as the Assistant to the Assistant Sales Manager (Manuel Siwek) at Grosset & Dunlap, a family held publisher in New York City. I was enchanted by the opportunity and moved my wife and family to work in NYC in 1950. My salary was $6,500 a year, about 50% less than my VA salary, but it was an opportunity that I could not refuse. I worked with Manuel and Grosset for 17 exciting years, rising to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. It was the first of many lucky breaks.
IP: What was the publishing world like then?
Martin: The publishing world was “a gentleman’s profession” in 1950 and gradually became a business as family-held houses such as Grosset & Dunlap, Macmillan, and others became publicly owned companies. The period of “constructive destruction” began when the 25-cent paperback books led to the destruction of the $1 hardcover reprint business. The growth of the paperback business was an opportunity rather than a threat, and it brought millions of new readers into the market. For a number or reasons, that part of the industry has now consolidated and is likely to stabilize as a modest part of publishing. The opening of the giant bookstore chains changed the face of retailing, suffocating the backbone of the industry by almost decimating the independent bookstore in the U.S. Now, with the bankruptcy of Borders, the restructuring of Barnes and Noble into a retailer of electronic products and remainders, and the rise of Amazon, “giant” retailing has been redefined. With the increase in the complexity of the iPad, mobile devices, retailing will become even more sophisticated.
IP: What were some of the biggest changes you faced as your career advanced?
Martin: The most meaningful answer to this question is that I had to accept that change would be the only constant in my career. I had to learn how to recognize change and if possible be prepared to adapt to the change. I had to realize that we live in an era of economic cycles and that I had to be prepared to lower my expectations and have confidence that we will come out of cycle so I would be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead. I also had to understand that I would make mistakes and it was important that I learned from the mistakes.
IP: Do you believe that the move to eBooks or the rise of self-publishing will have more of an effect on the industry? Or is there another important factor?
Martin: These are not game changers. eBooks use a new technology to achieve a function more efficiently. Self-publishing is mostly an outlet for those who love to communicate. It makes the society richer and in some small ways is a talent pool for the established publishers. The most important factors today are to improve the educational structure and to forestall the paranoia of Amazon, Google and publishers who wish to control areas that will block growth and innovation.
IP: Where do you see the print book in the future?
Martin: The print book will be affected by the new forms of delivery but will still be a significant part of book publishing. It makes no real difference as to the level of sale; what is important is that we have an author, a publisher, an efficient distribution system and an economically sound, educated reader who has the passion to read.
IP: Do you have any advice for people that want to dedicate their lives to publishing?
Martin: Get educated, love books and what you are doing, and assume you will never be a rich person. But your compensation will be the good that survives well after you are gone.
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Jillian Bergsma is a writer and contributing editor for Independent Publisher. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in English. She welcomes any questions or comments on her articles at jbergsma (at) bookpublishing.com.