Thomas McCormack
Encyclopedia
Thomas McCormack is a former book-publishing executive, editor, and author who is now a playwright.
. Following high school in Stamford, McCormack earned a B.A. summa cum laude
in philosophy from Brown University
, served in the U.S. Army
at the American Embassy in Rome, and did graduate work as a Woodrow Wilson
Fellow at Harvard. After a stint writing radio news
in Stamford, McCormack entered publishing.
He began at Doubleday, where he was the originating editor of Dolphin Books. He moved on to Harper and Row
where he started Perennial Books, then to New American Library
where he ran Mentor Books and Signet Classics. Finally he joined St. Martin's Press where, eleven years after entering publishing, he became the CEO. His maverick strategy -- which included publishing more fiction than any other house in America -- helped St. Martin's expand its annual billings from two-and-a-half-million dollars to over a quarter-billion. In the 1980s he had St. Martin's launch its own mass-market
paperback line, the first hardcover house to do that since before World War Two
. Meantime he was editing bestsellers ranging from All Creatures Great and Small to The Silence of the Lambs.
When he left St. Martin's in the late 1990s, McCormack wrote a regular column for Publishers Weekly. Titled “The Cheerful Skeptic”, it was a mixture of humor and protest as he examined and repudiated much of the book-industry's "conventional wisdom". He has been awarded the AAP's Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing, and the LMP's Lifetime Achievement Award
. He has lectured on publishing at Princeton and Harvard.
He is the author of Afterwords: Novelists on Their Novels and The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist.
, Terrence McNally
, Lanford Wilson
, John Guare
, and Sam Shepard
.
McCormack, however, with new family and job responsibilities, suspended his playwriting for over two decades. His first full-length play, Endpapers, was produced in New York in the 2002-2003 season. Its cumulative audience of over 40,000 put it among the three or four most popular Off Broadway plays of the first decade of this century. His two produced plays are published by The Dramatists Play Service
.
He continues to write and recently posted three new scripts online.
McCormack lives in New York with his wife, Sandra, a former book editor. Their two children, Daniel and Jessie, also went to Brown; they are both now screenwriters and directors in Hollywood. Following their graduation, McCormack gave the University money to build The McCormack Family Theater on campus.
Publishing
McCormack was born in Boston, MA. When he was age 8, the family moved to Stamford, CTStamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
. Following high school in Stamford, McCormack earned a B.A. summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
in philosophy from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, served in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at the American Embassy in Rome, and did graduate work as a Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
Fellow at Harvard. After a stint writing radio news
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
in Stamford, McCormack entered publishing.
He began at Doubleday, where he was the originating editor of Dolphin Books. He moved on to Harper and Row
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
where he started Perennial Books, then to New American Library
New American Library
New American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948; it produced affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works, as well as popular, pulp, and "hard-boiled" fiction. Non-fiction, original, and hardcopy issues were also produced.Victor Weybright and Kurt...
where he ran Mentor Books and Signet Classics. Finally he joined St. Martin's Press where, eleven years after entering publishing, he became the CEO. His maverick strategy -- which included publishing more fiction than any other house in America -- helped St. Martin's expand its annual billings from two-and-a-half-million dollars to over a quarter-billion. In the 1980s he had St. Martin's launch its own mass-market
Mass marketing
Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is type of marketing of a product to a wide audience. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible...
paperback line, the first hardcover house to do that since before World War Two
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Meantime he was editing bestsellers ranging from All Creatures Great and Small to The Silence of the Lambs.
When he left St. Martin's in the late 1990s, McCormack wrote a regular column for Publishers Weekly. Titled “The Cheerful Skeptic”, it was a mixture of humor and protest as he examined and repudiated much of the book-industry's "conventional wisdom". He has been awarded the AAP's Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing, and the LMP's Lifetime Achievement Award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
. He has lectured on publishing at Princeton and Harvard.
He is the author of Afterwords: Novelists on Their Novels and The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist.
Playwriting
McCormack wrote his first play, a one-act, American Roulette, just as he joined St. Martin's. It gained him a place in the Albee-Barr Playwrights Unit. American Roulette has subsequently been staged in numerous regional theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Among the other young beginners with him in the Playwrights Unit were A.R. GurneyA. R. Gurney
A. R. Gurney is an American playwright and novelist. He is known for works including Love Letters, The Cocktail Hour, and The Dining Room. Gurney currently lives in both New York and Connecticut....
, Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
, Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
, John Guare
John Guare
John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
, and Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
.
McCormack, however, with new family and job responsibilities, suspended his playwriting for over two decades. His first full-length play, Endpapers, was produced in New York in the 2002-2003 season. Its cumulative audience of over 40,000 put it among the three or four most popular Off Broadway plays of the first decade of this century. His two produced plays are published by The Dramatists Play Service
Dramatists Play Service
Established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild and the Society for Authors' Representatives, Dramatists Play Service, Inc. is a theatrical publishing and licensing house...
.
He continues to write and recently posted three new scripts online.
McCormack lives in New York with his wife, Sandra, a former book editor. Their two children, Daniel and Jessie, also went to Brown; they are both now screenwriters and directors in Hollywood. Following their graduation, McCormack gave the University money to build The McCormack Family Theater on campus.