Starling Lawrence, the longtime editor in chief of W.W. Norton & Company, will step down from his post next month to focus on acquiring and editing books as editor-at-large of the company.
John A. Glusman, executive editor and vice president of the Crown Publishing Group, part of Random House, will take his place. Mr. Glusman, widely considered a talented and politically savvy editor who has shepherded books by Orhan Pamuk, Erik Larson and Richard Powers into print, is expected to start on July 18.
Mr. Lawrence, who first joined Norton in 1969 and has held the top editorial job since 1993, said he decided recently to shed his managerial duties.
“I have certainly enjoyed this job, but I’ve always thought that the greatest contribution I have made to the company or might make to the company is putting important books and/or books that I believe strongly about on the list rather than managing other people,” Mr. Lawrence, who is 68, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “There are people who do this well and John Glusman is more than capable of taking on this job.”
The digital transformation underway in the industry played some part in the timing of his decision, he added.
“I’m not particularly knowledgeable about electronic publishing and all the very important issues and complications that that entails,” Mr. Lawrence said. “And frankly, if I were 20 years younger, it would be imperative that I understand and educate myself on those issues. But that has seemed less important to me because I’m frankly not a consumer of e-books myself. It’s not something that touches me personally.”
Norton, an independent publisher, has published books by Michael Lewis, Patrick O’Brian and Sebastian Junger.
Molly Stern, the publisher of Crown and Hogarth, said in a statement that she wished Mr. Glusman well. “This is a terrific career opportunity for John, and a recognition of his talent, his hard work, and his success here on behalf of our authors and our publishing program these past five years. While, of course, we wish he were continuing with us, we certainly understand and respect his desire to take on a bigger editorial role elsewhere.”