Macmillan to Close Its Self-Publishing Unit, Pronoun
In a move that surprised many in the self-publishing community, Macmillan has announced that it will cease all operations at Pronoun, a self-publishing platform that it acquired in May 2016. Jeff Seroy, senior v-p of publicity and marketing at Macmillan's Farrar Straus and Giroux unit, confirmed the shutdown. Asked why Pronoun was being shuttered 18 months after the acquisition, Seroy said despite Macmillan investment in the platform and “terrific” feedback from Pronoun authors, “we came to the conclusion that there wasn't a path forward to a profitable business model and decided to shut down the platform." Seroy said Macmillan will, “continue to invest in the data and analytics side of the company as we have found it of great value.” He also said that former Pronoun CEO Josh Brody and former chief product officer Ben Zhuk left Macmillan earlier in the year. Click Read More below for additional information.