The longest running CEO of a publishing company, she has made Random House the second largest publishing company in the UK. Her entrepreneurial roots and legendary work ethic have made her a leader in the publishing world.
In 2009 she was made the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the year, and a Dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List. Famous for her unwavering focus in the midst of car accidents and the birth of her children, Ms Rebuck has gained the respect of the publishing world even if some see her as a “turbo-charged careerist”. Her critics say she fits Random House all to well, in that she and the publishing giant are all about is making money, often putting creativity on the back burner. On the other hand Random House is known to go out of its way to support smaller independent booksellers as much as it does for the big chain stores.1 Either way it is hard to deny the influence of Random House and it’s captain Rebuck when such famous authors as John Grisham, Dan Brown, Salaman Rushdie, Tony Blair, Bill Bryson which fill the publishers literary stable, let alone the icons like Virgina Woolf, and Ernest Hemmingway, and Sigmund Freud (to name a few) that have graced the Random House in the past.
As one can see to handle such an influential publishing house, as Random House is no easy task, yet Ms Rebuck has shown the industry what the perfect head of such a company should be strong, smart, and very professional. But it didn’t all start out so golden, as all successes and stories there is a beginning. For Ms. Rebuck it was in London where she was born in 1952, she was educated at the University of Sussex, and worked as a tour guide and driver for her brother before she decided to follow her passion for books into publishing. She started in the publishing world as a production assistant for a children’s book company, then revamped a guidebook series by enlisting the local knowledge of London taxi drivers. Soon afterward she created a new publishing house called Century and after a series of other coup d'état that included ousting her former boss and mentor, Anthony Cheetham, she became CEO for Random House in 1991.
She followed a strict routine and only worked from 9-5 when her children were young, claiming that it wasn’t the quantity of time one spends in the office but rather the quality of work one does when they are there. She is an advocate of adult literacy saying, “learning to read isn’t a skill- it’s the doorway to life.”2 This kind of sentiment also prompted her to be a part of launching World Book Day and a Trustee of the National Literacy Trust and on the Council of the Royal College of Art.
Aware of the changing times and development of new technologies Ms Rebuck believes that the publishing industry is about to be transformed by "a new curve – the emergence of our digital future". Yet instead of being afraid of what that will mean for print books she has embraced the digital revolution claiming that printed books will not be overtaken by their digital counterparts as they are a part of our culture. Instead she has adopted the view "in 10 years time… we may get 25pc or 30pc of our revenue from digital sales.”3 Thus publishers must adapt and find a way to work with new media rather than scorn it.
Along with Random House Ms Rebuck has worked with and been affiliated with many media groups from News Corp, to British Sky Broadcasting Group, and is a trustee of the Institute of Public Policy Research and worked for the Government’s Creative Industry Taskforce to name a few.
It becomes obvious at once that Ms. Rebuck is a force to be reckoned with and that she has followed her passion for books up the corporate ladder to a place of prestige and longevity that few women have attained. In an interview by her old alma mater she advises students looking to get a foothold into the publishing world to “never be afraid to say what you think, always have an opinion, do more than is asked of you and be prepared to fail.” In a time where graduates are more than often found in a vacuum of “what next” Ms. Rebuck is proof that hard work and determination pays off. In a event where Ms. Rebuck was awarded a Doctorate from the University of Essex, the orator aptly said "if there is a “glass ceiling” keeping down ambitious and able women, Gail Rebuck has shown that it can be shattered."4
1. www.independent.co.uk
2. www.guardian.co.uk
3. www.telegraph.co.uk
4. www.essex.ac.uk
www.guardian.co.uk/books
www.sussex.ac.uk
www.independent.co.uk/news/media/
www.bmmagazine.co.uk
www.cabinetforum.org
people.forbes.com
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