Interview with Gail Rebuck -
Chair and Chief Executive of The Random House Group
by Simon Kirk (student, Politics and North American Studies)
Jan 2004, Random House head office, central London
Why did you choose Sussex?
Sussex was quite notorious at the end of the 1960's. It was a radical university, and that appealed to me. I liked the course too and the fact that it was multi-disciplinary. I hadn't realised how helpful that would be. It just seemed quite interesting and unusual at the time. Everything about Sussex was slightly edgy and different from everywhere else - very creative, very flexible and very focused on the student.
Has Sussex had a lasting effect on you?
Absolutely. I'm very, very fond of Sussex. I've got an honorary doctorate, which I'm very proud of. There is still something about Sussex students, something slightly buzzy, go getting. Maybe people select themselves for Sussex. The interdisciplinary approach has been helpful. I'm a book publisher. Although I run a publishing house, I used to be an editor. Having a broad university education was actually quite useful. It gave me a good knowledge base. It was useful in being able to intellectually multi-task - hold lots of different ideas in my head at the same time. It was truly stimulating.
What course did you do?
I applied to read French but wound up reading Intellectual History and French in the School of European Studies. In those days all students did a foundation course, and I got very interested in history and philosophy. Quentin Bell and some other professors had just launched Intellectual History as a new degree, and he suggested that it might suit me, and indeed it did. It was the history of ideas and philosophies. And I still studied French, and spent a year at the University of Toulouse. That was another attractive aspect of Sussex - the year abroad - although the University of Toulouse was on strike the entire year in 1973. I didn't go to a single lecture.
How did your career develop after you left Sussex?
I didn't know what I wanted to do, and there was a group of friends of mine at university who went to work for an American tour company taking American high school students round Europe. I applied and became a guide after graduation. Then I moved to London. After taking a typing course, I got a job. My first job was as production assistant for a children's book publishing company … I learned how books were put together. After a year, I moved to a guidebook company and worked there for a couple of years. Then I launched a mass market paperback imprint for Hamlyn. In 1982, I became part of a team who started a new hardcover publishing company called Century. Then there were a whole series of takeovers. Century merged with a company called Hutchinson and in 1989, Century Hutchinson was bought by the US conglomerate Random House. I took over as CEO in 1991.
I read that you try and keep strictly to a 9-5 routine. Are you still doing that?
No, but I did keep to that when I first had children. Now that my kids are older (my eldest is doing her A-Levels and applying for university), I tend to work longer hours.
Is your job very pressurised?
Yes.
How do you deal with that?
With difficulty.
Does it become overbearing?
Sometimes, but not all the time. There can be pressure points if a lot is going on. But the excitement and privilege of being able to read a new manuscript by a world-famous author, or to discover a new writer, is fantastic. There is always a balance between pressure and passion for the job. As long as the balance remains, it's fine.
What is the highlight of your job?
The highlight of a job like this: we publish 1,500 new books a year. We publish in my view, the very best established authors from throughout the world. Whether it's Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, Philip Roth, Ruth Rendell, Terry Prachett, Robert Harris, or more recently, Mark Haddon and Monica Ali - the list is endless. We also publish the best entertainment and a broad range of non-fiction, from literary biography to the Atkins diet. Last year, we had 7 out of 20 of the best of young British new writers. It's a huge privilege to be able to be part of such a creative team.
What's your biggest achievement personally and professionally?
Longevity. There was a publishing poll recently and in my entry they said I was the longest serving CEO in publishing, which was kind of scary. I'm not sure if that's something to be proud of necessarily! I hope I'm not past my sell-by date.
Where do you go from here? You've got the top job…
I've got the top job in the industry - there isn't anywhere else for me to go. So I'm a non-executive director of charitable institutions and companies outside publishing. I'm a Trustee of the Work Foundation, on the Council of the Royal College of Art and a non-executive director of BskyB, for example.
You were the first woman to head a major publishing firm. Do you think this is still a significant point? Are there equal opportunities now?
Publishing has always been a good career for women. I think however, there is still someway to go in the wider corporate sector. If you look at the FTSE 100 boards, women are woefully underrepresented. There is room for improvement.
What sort of improvements?
There has to be a culture change if you are actually going to achieve anything significant. We have got to change the way all male boards operate. People have got to get to know those women who are available with the right skills - and there are plenty of them. You can't just appoint a woman because of her gender. She must have the right skills to make a contribution and women have got to be willing to put their case forward.
What are you reading at the moment?
There is a book I'm reading, but I'm not allowed to tell you about it! It's one of our best-selling authors, and it is truly amazing. By the time this comes out, I will be able to tell you about it. [The book was later revealed as Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres]. We are also hoping to publish former President Clinton's memoirs in June this year.
Was there a particular author who inspired you to go into this industry when you were a child?
Not really. I was a great reader when I was a child. I devoured books - my bedroom was the family book deposit. I always loved books, as they took me into a different world. I was also a great fan of my local library in Marylebone.
There have been complaints that children don't read enough. Has Harry Potter transformed the industry?
It's been fantastic for kids, and it's been fantastic for children's publishing, but it hasn't exponentially increased the children's market. The market for books has been fairly static. Obviously you get a peak when a Harry Potter is published … We have plenty of other best-selling children's authors in the UK, from Philip Pullmann to Jacqueline Wilson (the most borrowed author from our libraries).
What advice would you give to Sussex students who wish to emulate your success?
During their time at Sussex, they should, if they can, try and get some work experience in a publishing house. Just get in there. When they graduate, consider a post-graduate course in publishing at either Oxford Brookes or City University in London. Don't always apply for an editorial job, because they are the most difficult and sought after, but get into a publishing company where you can. It might surprise graduates that, rather than being an editor, they could make a career in the marketing department or the rights department or, indeed, in bookselling. Never be afraid to say what you think, always have an opinion, do more than is asked of you and be prepared to fail.