Up to four of Weidenfeld & Nicholson‘s nine non-fiction editorial staff are to be made redundant as the list – which published around 100 titles at its peak three or four years ago – is cut back to 50-60 titles a year, according to Publishing News. Orion Group staff were told the news at a meeting on Wednesday of last week. A spokesman for the Group said the publisher is currently in consultation with the NUJ over the cuts and that no further comment would be made until the period ended in mid-July and Weidenfeld was in a position to announce its precise plans. It was emphasized, however, that no other redundancies are planned within the Orion Group and that all commissioned books will be published.
Though no one at W&N was prepared to comment on the record, PN understands that it is likely that one of the three commissioning editor roles is likely to be made redundant along with three editorial support staff. The most senior member of the commissioning team is Alan Samson, Publishing Director, who works with colleagues Ian Drury and Ben Buchan. If Weidenfeld is to publish fewer non-fiction titles it will need fewer acquiring editors, but the resulting list will surely overwhelm the remaining three editorial staff, so resulting in outsourcing.