Janet Schulman (16 September 1933 – 11 February 2011) was an author of children's books and editor, first at
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
, then at
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
. Schulman was the editor for authors such as
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel (;["Seuss"](_blank)
'' Virginia Hamilton
Virginia Esther Hamilton (March 12, 1936 – February 19, 2002) was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including '' M. C. Higgins, the Great'' (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award in category Children's Bo ...
and was responsible for the marketing behind ''
Watership Down
''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural ...
''.
Career
Schulman began working for
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
in 1959, when she moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She had worked before in advertisement in
and was hired for a position in Macmillan's advertising department. She worked on all of the publisher's divisions, until she was asked to help rewrite one of
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
' ''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
'' books, at which point she decided to focus on children's books. She was behind one of the first paperback publishing programs focused on children's literature, and was responsible for the marketing of ''
Watership Down
''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural ...
'', which marked the first time a novel for children appeared on the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' bestseller list.
In 1974, she was one of the 185 people let go that year in a mass firing to downsize the company.
Schulman, alongside eight other women, filed a class-action complaint against their employer for
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
.
In an interview, Schulman said about her firing: "I have maintained all along that I was fired because of my activities helping to form and acting as co-chair of the women's group in the company."
After that, Schulman went to work at
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
during the 1980s and 1990s,
where she was the editor responsible for authors such as
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel (;["Seuss"](_blank)
'' Virginia Hamilton
Virginia Esther Hamilton (March 12, 1936 – February 19, 2002) was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including '' M. C. Higgins, the Great'' (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award in category Children's Bo ...
,
and acted as director of children's book marketing, editor-in-chief and publisher of several of Random House's imprints.
In 1984, Schulman helped Random House create a new paperback line focused on beginner readers, which was the first to have on the covers of the books an indication of the reading level expected of the reader.
In 1994 she resigned from her positions at Random House and began working as VP-at-large.
Death
Schulman died on 11 February 2011, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She was 77 years old.
Selected works
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulman, Janet
1933 births
2011 deaths
American women children's writers
American children's writers
American women editors
21st-century American women