Simon & Schuster Australia to launch Summit Books Australia, appoints Jane Palfreyman as Publishing Director.
Following Simon & Schuster US’s announcement of the revival of Summit Press, headed up by Senior Vice President, Publisher, Judy Clain, Simon & Schuster Australia will introduce the imprint in Australia and New Zealand, appointing Jane Palfreyman as Publishing Director.
Jane Palfreyman is an Australian editor and publisher with over 35 years’ experience. After starting at Picador/Macmillan, she became Publishing Director at Random House, where she edited and published writers including Thomas Keneally, Charlotte Wood, Frank Moorhouse, Gail Jones and J.M.Coetzee.
In 2007, Jane joined Allen & Unwin, where she published an eclectic list, including award-winning bestsellers Jasper Jones, Honeybee and Runt by Craig Silvey, The Weekend and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, Scrublands by Chris Hammer, Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz, and The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, which has sold over 1.5 million copies.
Among the careers Jane has helped launch are those of Sarah Bailey, Ella Baxter, Jacqueline Bublitz, Michelle de Kretser, Anh Do, Clementine Ford, Madeleine Gray, Chris Hammer, Malcolm Knox, Sofie Laguna, Bri Lee, Gabbie Stroud, Christos Tsiolkas and Jessie Tu.
Jane has published six Miles Franklin Literary Award winners and two Stella Prize winners. In 2022, five titles she published were named by the Sydney Morning Herald in the ‘25 Best Australian Novels of the Last 25 Years’. In 2023, Jane was named the inaugural recipient of the Australian Book Industry Awards Commissioning Editor/Publisher of the Year.
Jane will report directly to Simon & Schuster Australia Managing Director, Dan Ruffino, and commences in the role Monday May 6, 2024.
Dan Ruffino says, “I have known Jane since I started in book publishing and worked alongside her at the then Pan Books in the late 80s. I have long admired her editorial excellence and championing of her authors and their works. She is arguably one of Australia’s most successful and influential publishers and I'm looking forward to Jane’s significant contribution to Simon & Schuster Australia’s growth plans over the coming years.”
Jane Palfreyman says, “I am thrilled to be joining Simon & Schuster in its 100th year, and excited and honoured to have the incredible opportunity to launch Summit Books in Australia. I've known and respected Dan Ruffino for over 30 years and have watched with admiration as Dan and his team have grown and flourished, even in tough times. I can't wait to make my contribution to that dynamic and unstoppable company as it continues to rise, and I could not be more exhilarated about the future.
“I will always be grateful for my 17 extraordinary years at a truly great Australian company, Allen & Unwin, and will miss the close relationships I've enjoyed with colleagues and authors. I thank Patrick Gallagher and Robert Gorman for their leadership and support.”
Summit Books Australia will publish Australian authors, authors from Summit Books internationally, and be a source for them too. From 1976 to 1991, Summit Books published an extraordinary list of authors of international stature such as Elie Wiesel, Marilyn French, James Baldwin and Oliver Sacks, and the new Summit will build on that legacy for a 21st century audience, publishing bold and international fiction and nonfiction, giving readers an expansive view of the world.