New Republic Pulls the Plug on Novel

Hamilton Fish, who recently joined New Republic as publisher and editorial director, is today sharing some unfortunate but fairly typical under-new-ownership news. On April 1, a number of people will be exiting the company. As well, Novel, the content marketing offshoot launched last year, is being internally closed down. Here's the full memo: Dear New Republic staff, Over the past 3 weeks, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know many of you, and have observed firsthand the impressive work underway. As I noted on arrival, our priority has been to develop a publishing strategy that highlights the superb journalism and enduring tradition of the New Republic, balances the demands of print and digital, and takes meaningful strides toward sustainability. As we focus on the core business activities of our evolving publishing model, we have had to make some very hard decisions, resulting in significant staffing changes. I am working with each of the departments that have been affected to ease the transition and reduce as much of the impact as possible. Eliot Pierce, our chief product officer, is returning to a career as a media consultant and will be departing April 1. Eliot joined the New Republic last March and in this time built a first-rate product team responsible for the re-launch of our website, the creation of Mariner, and the development of great editorial products. With Eliot’s departure, Gregg Meluski, who was recently promoted to Director of Software, will lead the product team. After extensive conversations with Kayvan Salmanpour, our chief revenue officer, we have decided that Kayvan and the Novel team will transition out of the New Republic. As you all know, Novel launched in Fall 2015 as a creative agency with an editorial mindset, incubated by the New Republic. The agency was conceptualized as a way to support the growth of the New Republic by offering long-term content marketing strategies for brands. Under Kayvan’s leadership, Novel closed deals with an impressive roster of clients, including Audible, Casper, Bevel, Getty Images, Red, and more. The Novel team will be departing on April 1 and I have agreed to enable the team to retain their entire client list should they find a new home. Please join me in thanking the rest of the Novel team for their great work: Amelia Pisapia co-founded Novel and served as the editorial director of the agency – developing and launching content strategies for our clients. Tricia Dunn and Ian Mirmelstein who served as senior brand strategists and led business development for Novel. In addition, today we are saying both goodbye and hello to Amanda Rios, the marketing department’s art director, who will transition today from serving as a full-time employee to freelancing for the New Republic. We will be holding an All Hands meeting at 3pm where I will try my best to answer your questions. A calendar invitation with dial-in details will follow. I understand that it is difficult to say goodbye to such great friends and colleagues, but I hope you will share in my excitement for the road ahead. Ham As Fish mentions, it's possible that Novel will be able to find a new home. More no doubt to come once that all-hands meeting takes place this afternoon at 3 p.m. Previously on FishbowlNY: New Republic Is Sold to Win McCormack The New Republic Opts for ‘Novel’ Content Marketing Approach

Fishbowl

New Republic Pulls the Plug on Novel

One of several big changes taking effect April 1.

Richard Horgan

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Richard Horgan