Publishing Profiles: Pamela Dorman, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Pamela Dorman Books/Viking

Pamela Dorman, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, has published multimillion-copy, #1 New York Times bestsellers by Sue Monk Kidd, Kim Edwards, Helen Fielding, Gail Honeyman, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Richard Osman, Jojo Moyes, Ashley Elston and many more.  

She began her publishing career at St. Martin’s Press and is a summa cum laude graduate of Wesleyan University. Recently, Pamela sat down for a Q&A with Wesleyan University Magazine, discussing her storied career in publishing, what advice she offers to current students, and how her background has shaped her career. Read the full interview here. 

Building off her recent interview, we chatted with Pamela, diving deeper into her learnings and mission throughout her enormously successful career.  

What are some ways the publishing industry has changed since you started, and how have you adapted your approach over the years?    

The biggest thing over the past 45 years or so is that the internet arrived. That has changed so much about how we sell books, how we market books, and even how we discover authors.  

On the other hand, the essentials of the business have not changed—at least for editorial. It’s still about reading manuscripts you love, discovering authors, and figuring out the best way to publish them. In terms of adapting, I think one of the other big changes—certainly since the pandemic—is so much less is done in person. 

All of publishing is a people business. When I started in publishing, the notorious three-hour lunch was a real thing. As recently as pre-pandemic, we would have two-hour agent lunches, and it was a wonderful way to make new contacts and also keep up with people we already do business with. In that way, we’ve become somewhat constrained by the fact that we meet online much of the time. The ability to have spontaneous conversations with people is much more limited.  

On the other hand, I do a tremendous amount of business with UK publishers and authors. One of the great advantages of having access to online meetings is I can speak to British authors all the time. I could always speak to them, but to have a video conference and see the person and how they’re reacting is a way to bridge that gap that we didn’t have before.  

Can you share more about the vision and mission behind your imprint, Pamela Dorman Books? 

Even before I started the imprint in 2008, I always published a lot of debut fiction and a lot of books whose primary audience is women. I published THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES at Viking. I published BRIDGET JONES DIARY and a book called THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER. I’ve always looked for strong women writers who write well but accessibly for what I call the “upmarket but popular audience.” It’s what we now call book club fiction.

That is still a big, big part of the identity of Pamela Dorman Books. We’ve been able to build on my previous successes to have an identity as tastemakers in that arena. Our marketing and publicity departments are really good at taking an author in that category and elevating them.

We also want to publish straight ahead commercial fiction. A lot of the books that we publish in that arena are suspense novels of different kinds. I publish Shari Lapena and Richard Osman, who fall into that genre. 

I’m always looking for suspense that has atmosphere and character, where the pace keeps you going. The books I love the most, the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB type books, are really about character, which always attracts me.  

How do you believe Pamela Dorman Books aligns with Penguin Random House’s mission to create books for everyone? 

I think there’s a range of authors, and there is something for a lot of different kinds of readers. Some of my books are on the more literary end of the spectrum, and some are on the other more commercial end of the spectrum. I started in publishing at St. Martin’s Press where I worked on every kind of book—fiction and nonfiction. It was a lot of commercial fiction and what I would think of as popular nonfiction. I really grew up in publishing, doing a whole lot of different things.  

I have published people like Maria Shriver and Martha Beck, who’s a sociologist and life coach. Now, I’m publishing Angela Buchdahl, the only Korean American rabbi in the world. Angela is an amazing woman and a real-life character, if you will.  

People don’t think of me as doing nonfiction, but when I read Angela’s proposal, I thought, “I really want to do this.” She is the kind of strong woman I admire. I think that fits with the bigger Penguin Random House mission as well.  

What are you reading right now?    

Shirley Jackson’s humorous memoir, LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES. It’s about moving her growing family from a New York apartment to a ramshackle house in Vermont with her husband and three children. A classic I’ve never read!

Anything else you think is important for people to know about you? 

I’ve been a Penguin since 1987. I left for a couple of years and came back. Being at this company is in my blood and how I identify myself! It means a lot to me. I feel an enormous sense of pride about this company even in the many incarnations it’s gone through since I joined.  

 To learn more about Pamela Dorman books, read the brochure here.