Ivan Held Named President of G.P. Putnam's Sons

Posted on April 8, 2005

Ivan Held has been named President of G.P. Putnam's Sons, it was announced by Susan Petersen Kennedy, President of Penguin Group (USA). Mr. Held will report directly to Mrs. Kennedy. Mr. Held will be responsible for the overall business and publishing operations of the imprint as well as scouting for promising new writers to add to Putnam's list. His primary focus will be to expand the direction of the publishing program by bringing in and nurturing a new generation of writers in commercial and literary fiction, as well as substantive nonfiction that will complement the existing stable of internationally known talent on Putnam's list. Most recently Mr. Held was Vice President and Associate Publisher at Warner Books, where he helped publish numerous #1 bestsellers in 2004 including books by Nelson DeMille, David Baldacci and Ellen Cooper as well as Jon Stewart's 2 million copy bestseller America (The Book). He also helped publish Lolly Winston's New York Times bestseller Good Grief and Brad Meltzer's New York Times bestseller The Zero Game. Prior to joining Warner Books, Mr. Held was the founding Publisher of Random House Trade Paperbacks. Before that he was the Marketing Director and (co) Associate Publisher at Viking.