Joni Evans (born April 20, 1942) is an American book publisher of over 100 bestsellers, writer, editor, and literary agent. Evans's background and career in publishing includes posts as Senior Vice President of the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...

(1994-2006), President and Publisher of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

(1977-1989), and Publisher 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 ...

(1989-1994).

Early life and education

Evans grew up in

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Lar ...

. She graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

with a BA in creative writing.

Career

From 1989 to 1994, Evans was Executive Vice President at

, Adult Trade Division and also Publisher of Turtle Bay Books, a division of Random House. Previously, she had worked at

Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

for 14 years where she served as Subsidiary Rights Director, Associate Publisher, then as Editor in Chief of her own division, the Linden Press, and finally as president and Publisher of Simon and Schuster. Michael Korda in his memoir describes Evans and with her the rise of the importance of publishing rights in the mid-seventies as well as her eventual partnership with Richard E. Snyder. From 1994 to 2007, Evans was a vice-president at the William Morris agency. Evans represented a wide array of authors including

Marcus Buckingham Marcus Wilfrid Buckingham (born 11 January 1966) is an English author, motivational speaker and business consultant based in California. Early life and education Buckingham was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and grew up in the village of ...

, Christopher Byron,

Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...

Fannie Flagg Fannie Flagg (born Patricia Neal; September 21, 1944) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–1982 versions of the game show ''Match Game'' and for the 1987 novel '' Fried Green To ...

, Martin Garbus,

Peggy Noonan Margaret Ellen Noonan (born 1950), known as Peggy Noonan, is a weekly columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'', and contributor to NBC News and ABC News. She was a primary speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 t ...

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', and ''Private'' ...

, Liz Smith,

John Stossel John Frank Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American libertarian television presenter, author, consumer journalist, and pundit. He is known for his career as a host on ABC News, Fox Business Network, and Reason TV. Stossel's style combines ...

and

Michael Weisskopf Michael Weisskopf (born 1946) is a Polk Award-winning journalist, currently working as a senior correspondent for ''Time'' magazine. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1996 for the accounts he and David Maraniss gave of the activities in 1995 followi ...

. Before that she worked as an editor at William Morrow Publishers, the

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ...

, and for various women's magazines. Evans was part of a 2003

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo h ...

's '' Bullshit!'' episode, which showed "a nice expose of

Rosemary Altea Rosemary Altea (born Rosemary Edwards) is a British author who describes herself as a medium and healer. She has appeared on various programs, including ''Larry King Live'', ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', and featured in the series premiere of ' ...

during a taped readings arranged by Showtime. Viewers got a clear picture of how she worked the small group of people present for readings prior to the taping in order to glean information for later use. They also learned how her publicist, Joni Evans, seeded the group with people whose biographies were already known to Altea in order to boost her on-camera success." Joni Evans is one of the founding members and CEO of

wowOwow wowOwow was a U.S.-based website publication run by Joni Evans. History The website was launched by chief executive officer Joni Evans, Mary Wells Lawrence Mary Wells Lawrence (born Mary Georgene Berg on May 25, 1928) is an American retir ...

.com. Evans founded the site in 2008 along with Liz Smith, Lesley Stahl,

Mary Wells Lawrence Mary Wells Lawrence (born Mary Georgene Berg on May 25, 1928) is an American retired advertising executive. She was the founding president of Wells, Rich, Greene, an advertising agency known for its creative work. Lawrence was the first female ...

and

. Michael Korda wrote that Joni Evans played an important part in opening up major executive jobs to women in the book industry as well as making editors and publishers more "conscious of the need to think about the markets for a book."

Personal life

Evans was married to

head Richard E. Snyder. Their high-profile divorce made headlines in 1990.Span, Paula (April 27, 1990). Divorce of the Publishing Titans; New York's Evans v. Snyder, The Battle of the Helpmates. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

References

External links

Evans to Leave WMA

Joni Evans Jumps Ship

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090228210206/http://www.wowowow.com/users/joni Joni Evansa
wowOwow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Joni Living people American book publishers (people) American women chief executives 1942 births University of Pittsburgh alumni People from Larchmont, New York American publishing chief executives 21st-century American women