Discovered numerous writers, including Dan Brown and John Grisham, and promoted them to the top
25 years at Random House…Doubleday, Simon & Schustergercher
Launched as a reporter for NYT, devoted himself to the publishing industry, and also operates a music criticism research institute
Stephen Rubin, the godfather of the American publishing industry who over several decades produced numerous bestsellers, including ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (written by Dan Brown), and discovered and brought to the top authors such as John Grisham, died on the 13th, his nephew David Lotter said. announced. He died at the age of 81.
The Associated Press reported that Rubin died at a hospital in Manhattan after a “sudden and brief illness.”
It is no exaggeration to say that Rubin, a giant in the American publishing industry, has largely dominated the publishing world with his powerful and varied career, keen eye, and eloquent voice.
It was impossible to imagine the American publishing world without his thick horn-rimmed glasses, neat suit, and the figure at the center of countless friends and colleagues across a wide range of fields, including the cultural and political worlds.
The parties at his spacious West Side apartment, attended by celebrities such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Beverly Sills, provided all kinds of topics in American society, and he had extensive knowledge and tastes in classical music and other music, showing off many friendships regardless of genre.
He left Random House in October 2009 after working for 25 years as an editor and vice chairman of Random House, which published the international bestseller ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ .
Rubin, who has worked with famous authors such as Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, John Grisham, and Pat Conroy, is an editor who has published numerous best-sellers, so Random House asked Rubin to remain at Random House, but he did not like it. Rubin, clear and stubborn, said he did not change his mind.
Jane Friedman, former CEO of HarperCollins Publishing and close friend, recalled in an email to an AP reporter, “He had such a presence that he filled any space he entered.”
Rubin, a former New York Times reporter, entered the publishing world in the 1980s and rose to the position of CEO of Doubleday Publishing, where Kennedy also worked as an editor, and also worked at Henry Holt & Company.
Most recently, he served as editorial advisor to Simon & Schuster.
Rubin’s publishing acumen is extraordinary, with works ranging from Bill O’Reilly’s million-selling “Killing” series to works by Martin Dugard and Laura Esquivel, Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie,” Hilary Mantel’s “The Body Lifter,” and George W. Bush. He has produced numerous bestsellers, including the memoir ‘Moments of Decision,’ published at a time when the former president’s popularity was at its lowest point not only in the publishing industry but also nationwide.
In the 1990s, he discovered unknown mystery writer John Grisham at Doubleday Publishing and turned his “The Firm” into an all-time bestseller. (In Korea, it was published with strange titles such as “The Trap of Ambition” and “So They Went to the Sea”).
From then on, Grisham became synonymous with courtroom dramas in print and film in the United States, and Rubin’s friendship with Grisham lasted a lifetime.
Rubin used Grisham’s good looks to run unconventional advertisements and promotions, and Grisham, who appeared unshaven in an interview with a photographer at the time, was in the spotlight as a rebel of his time.
And 10 years later, Rubin discovered Dan Brown, whose name was little known at the time, at Doubleday and made it a huge hit with a thriller set in Europe that included religion and art. Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” sold a whopping 70 million copies thanks to his unstoppable publicity campaign and generous promotional activities, including distributing thousands of copies in advance to book dealers and retailers.
Some critics and writers ignored or disparaged the work, and some in the religious community protested, calling it blasphemy, but Rubin used it for publicity and received an explosive response.
Due to the success of that book, Dan Brown gained great popularity, with his previously published books “Angels and Demons” and “Digital Fortress” becoming bestsellers.
In 2018, Rubin published “Fire and Fury,” written by veteran journalist Michael Wolff, during the administration of President Donald Trump, creating a bestseller dissecting the chaos of the U.S. administration.
Trump was so enraged that he threatened to sue to ban the book and fired his spokesman, Steve Bannon, for talking to Wolff, the author, sparking sales.
Rubin called the book “the craziest experience” of his entire career.
Rubin, who was good at writing interviews with famous artists as a reporter for the New York Times Magazine and other publications, moved to a paperback publisher called Bantam Books, where he worked for six years, before moving to Doubleday.
Rubin, who was also well-versed in music, founded and ran the ‘Rubin Music Criticism Institute’ at the San Francisco Conservatory with his wife, Cynthia, who passed away in 2010, and was deeply proud of it.
However, he had the greatest love for publishing, and even wrote in his memoir, “When I die, the article will be titled ‘Publisher of The Da Vinci Code Passes Away.’” And so it happened.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.