Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publisher Becky Saletan Abruptly Quits

NEW YORK — The senior vice president and publisher of adult trade books at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has quit, effective Dec. 10.

Spokesman Josef Blumenfeld confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that Becky Saletan has resigned, but declined further comment. Saletan didn't immediately return phone and e-mail messages from the AP.

Saletan had served in the job since January 2008, when she was appointed to head the newly merged Harcourt and Houghton Mifflin divisions. Adult trade books include general interest fiction and non-fiction.

"She is the best," says literary agent Liz Darhansoff, who represents one of Saletan's authors, novelist Ivan Doig. "She is a wonderful editor and a real hands-on publisher, responsive and a pleasure to work with."

The company has been in the news for an alleged hold-down on new books. Blumenfeld has offered conflicting statements, saying the publisher of authors such as Philip Roth and Guenter Grass had "temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts." But he didn't dispute reports that the policy didn't apply to education and children's books and a mystery book imprint, headed by Otto Penzler, who says that Saletan called him Monday to say she was leaving.

"She talked about being in a very difficult position," Penzler told the AP. "It was a very brief conversation. I asked her if she knew what was she was going to do next and she said she didn't have a clue.

"Becky is an absolute joy," he added. "She always gave you time, she always gave you attention."

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has reportedly been hit hard by the tight credit market and any halt on acquisitions is widely believed to be in anticipation of a possible sale. Their owner, the private-equity concern Education Media and Publishing Group, has acknowledged that rival publishers have expressed interest in buying HMH.

Saletan, ironically, had initially benefited when Houghton purchased Harcourt last year. Formerly publisher of adult trade books at Harcourt, she was promoted to head the combined adult trade divisions, winning out over Houghton publisher Janet Silver.

Silver, who edited Roth and Cynthia Ozick among others, soon left to join Random House Inc.'s Doubleday division as an editor-at-large. She was among 16 employees laid off by Doubleday last month.

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