The ground-floor library of the New York Center for Independent Publishing was packed Monday night with industry pros gathered to celebrate the presentation of the annual Poor Richard Award to Esther Margolis, who has led Newmarket Press since she founded the publishing company in 1981. In an interview published in the commemorative program for the award, which annually recognizes a leading figure in the independent publishing world, Margolis reflected on how the situation had improved for women in publishing during her 45 years in the industry:
“In the ’60s and ’70s women were employed mainly in publishing as secretaries or assistants in publicity, advertising, editorial and other administrative positions. In time, some of them were able to become editors and department heads, but few would be considered to run major divisions or corporations. In 1971, when I became a VP at Bantam—which made me Bantam’s first woman VP—it was the first time that a VP title was given to a publicity director at a major NYC publishing company…”
Yet though the big houses have had several female leaders in the years since, including Jane Friedman‘s recently concluded stewardship of HarperCollins and Carolyn Reidy‘s rise at Simon and Schuster, Margolis says there’s still room for improvement. “I believe we still have a way to go before a woman would be considered as naturally as a man for a head-of-house or CEO post,” she says. “I think a lot depends on who’s doing the hiring, and what their comfort level is with working with women in authority.” She also believes women need to embrace that authority more forcefully: “If they want to be in the running for top posts,” she advises, “they will need to groom for it, pursue it, ask for it.”