In an era of rapid technological change and evolving consumer habits, the book publishing industry finds itself at a crossroads. With over three decades of experience, Rockelle Henderson has been a witness to and a driving force behind many of these transformations. As a seasoned professional who has worked with major authors and celebrities, Henderson brings a unique perspective to the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today.

From her early days at Penguin to her current role as a consultant for publishers, production companies, studios, and independent authors, Henderson has seen the industry weather numerous storms. Her career spans the transition from traditional publishing models to the digital age, offering invaluable insights into how the industry can adapt and thrive.

In this exclusive interview, Henderson shares her thoughts on the current state of book publishing, the importance of diversity in decision-making rooms, and how she helps steer both established publishers and indie authors through these turbulent waters. Through her company, Rock Inked, Inc. her expertise extends beyond books to encompass PR and marketing for film, television, and entertainment, providing a holistic view of the media landscape.

As the industry grapples with issues of representation, marketing strategies, and the evolving role of publishers in a digital world, Henderson’s perspective offers a roadmap for those looking to navigate these new challenges. Her story is not just one of personal success, but a testament to the resilience and adaptability required to thrive in an ever-changing industry.

Jeff Rivera: Rockelle, you’ve been in the business for quite some time. For those who are not familiar with your background, what led you to where you are today?

Rockelle Henderson: Growing up in New York City, I was always excited by seeing big major brands and the bright lights of Times Square. I understood that these were companies—though I may not have understood the word “brand” at the time—where I’ve always wanted to be in the mix.

I started out working at Sunset Magazine on the advertising side. We advertised big brands like Mercedes and Volvo, and I worked on those accounts. From there, I realized how exciting that business was. Before that, I had an internship at NBC radio, so I got a little taste of media too and how it all comes together and how they make their money from these brands.

I applied to quite a few places like Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson. I was going big, with no college degree, going to college at night. But I had some marketing experience under my belt working at Sunset Magazine for three and a half years, and I got hired by Penguin. I started in the Dutton marketing department and worked my way up. When I left Penguin seven years later, I was the Associate Director of Operations.

From there, I went on to Random House, but I had a short stint with Disney publishing (Hyperion), in between. I actually helped Hyperion set up their marketing department. At Random House, I was the Manager of Ad Promo for two years and then went on to HarperCollins where I worked in the ad department and then became the advertising and promotion Director, running a team of 15 for an in-house agency.

I also took on marketing for one of the imprints, the Amistad imprint. Looking back now, that was a lot of experience. Today, people don’t want to take on more than they’re paid for, and I’m sure I was grossly underpaid. But  the wealth of knowledge that I received from having the various positions set me up for just about any position when it comes to book publishing, marketing, and the production of just about any consumer product. I’m talking soup to nuts, including finance, brand development, and even art direction.

I parlayed that over to marketing movies and games and toys. I just enjoy the idea of bringing products to other people for them to enjoy.

New York Times Bestselling Author, Terry McMillan – Photo Credit: The Guardian

You’ve actually worked with a lot of really big names, of course in books and also beyond books. Who were some of the high profile individuals you remember working with?

Sure, a few stand out. I got to work on Stephen King’s books back at Viking Penguin. I’ve worked with Terry McMillan, developed, directed, and produced ads with IBM’s former CEO Lou Gerstner and one of my favorite authors, Lisa Scottolini. I’ve put in a lot of years so there are many more authors such as Edward P. Jones, Michael Crichton, Eriq La Salle, Kwame Alexander. I could go on.

You weren’t always as successful. What challenges did you face that people can relate to?

Being one of a few Black people in publishing is and was difficult. A lot of times you have to stay quiet because people have no idea what you’re talking about. For example, I was in a meeting with a boardroom full of execs discussing the acquisition of a book from a major brand at the time. Noone had a clue about this culturally recognized brand. I stepped up and tried to explain, but all I could see were blank faces. That was just one thing that I remember, but there are a lot of memories like that where you feel alone.

When I was Associate Publisher of Amistad and we published Edward P. Jones, who won the Pulitzer for his book “The Known World,” we had that success. The challenge, in addition to getting colleagues and retail buyers to believe that non Black people would be interested, once we got that success it was “can we do it again?” Because no one really thought we could do it anyway. When you know that people don’t have faith in you or believe that you can do something, it weighs on you.

As a business owner, the challenges are endless. Every day you wake up and ask, how am I going to keep this business afloat? But I read a lot of business books from successful entrepreneurs and I’veI realized that what I’m going through is not new. That actually helps me because sometimes when you feel alone, you realize these successful people have all been through this same thing.

From a business perspective alone, beyond social impact, why is it important to have at least a Black person in the room, in the decision-making rooms? How does that affect the bottom line?

Whether it’s publishing or Hollywood or whatever room it is, this country is diverse. People just have to realize it. If your boardroom, marketing team, sales team does not reflect who you’re trying to reach, you’re going to have a problem. Remember the example I mentioned about the book we were trying to acquire from a culturally recognized major brand? You can get by for a while, but you’re going to hit a brick wall, and eventually you will see it in the numbers.

The buying power of Black women and the African-American community’s buying power at large is significant. I think it’s already surpassed a trillion dollars. So why wouldn’t you want to have a diverse group of people working on a product?

Also, publishers often think that if the author is Black, the content is only for Black consumers or brown consumers. Why? As publishers, we control that message and that narrative. If that’s the message publishers continue to put forth, then yes, white women, white men are not going to read the books that we publish. We are not benefitting from our material being marketed to everyone.

You’ve been with publishing for quite some time and you’ve seen quite a few changes. What’s changed in book publishing and where are we now?

I feel like the old quote still stands, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” When I was hired in 1990, it was a white slate for me if I wanted to follow behind someone in marketing. Editorially, there were some Black and Brown editors, but only a handful.

We’ve been through cycles of street fiction, Black noir, commercial Black authors like Terry McMillan. These cycles come and go. 2020 brought on a slate of Black editors, related to George Floyd’s murder? Hollywood did the same thing. Many of those positions have been eliminated just four fast years later—two of which were pandemic ridden.

We’re still in a situation where there’s a need for diverse employees. I don’t want to see people hired because of a race-related situation. 

If you could wave a magic wand and they gave you the keys to all of New York Book Publishing, how would you redesign it in a way that would be financially responsible but also move in the direction that we truly can go?

When I was coming up in publishing, we were so focused on what we call backlists. We used to put all of our marketing efforts and money into giving a book a life forever. I feel like we’ve gotten away from that. Today a book has to work, i.e. be successful or show signs of being successful in three weeks and if it doesn’t, it’s done.

I think that taps into the bottom line of publishing. It feels as if everything is a one off. We’re not interested in building writing careers anymore. As a publisher, how do you acquire books and don’t put marketing efforts behind them?

If you have 18 books and you could only market 12 of them, fine, then market those 12 individually, take the other six and find a way to market those six together. But don’t just toss them aside. Most writers put everything into their career. I’m just not comfortable tossing aside what I once felt was a good story. If that means publishing fewer books, then publish fewer books, but focus on the ones that you acquire all the way through.

Also, the distribution has diminished for publishers because we used to have so many more bookstores and other outlets to place books upon publication. Now it’s mostly Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and a few independent stores if you’re lucky.

Rockelle Henderson’s Client: Author, Eriq La Salle

Because of all the different campaigns that you’ve run in the past, especially with books and entertainment in general, what works? What have you seen in general consistently works in terms of marketing or PR to really drive people to the bookstore or drive people to watch a film or to buy a game?

I think it’s different for each. Books, I think, are the hardest because the budgets are way smaller. And you have a product that people don’t need, which is bumping up against entertainment that is more flashy—television, movies, games, toys, sports.

For books, the publisher and the retailer have to come together. Every aspect of the publishing process has to be committed to the success—editorial, sales, marketing, PR—all have to be on one accord along with retailers, libraries, etc. Word of mouth still works, no matter what. I also believe there is a rhythm to publishing and you just have to keep building for nine months, no less than nine months to get that word out to the point when that book releases and everybody’s looking for it. More specifically, early reads and reviews for buzz and word of mouth. That starts with the team working on the book. You MUST have the support of retailers and outlets you need to sell the book. There really is no success without their buy in (unless you are publishing independently and you have a massive list of potential buyers that you can drive to your website to purchase the book). Stir in some publicity and promotion with media outlets. And pray, if you are the praying type. LOL!

With movies, they have their own rhythm. What they have that publishers don’t have are celebrities and actors and stars who will get interviews and go out and talk about it. More people are going to watch movies and television than they are going to pick up a book to read, if nothing else, for time.

Gamers have an easier time of that. They’ve got their conventions and they’ve got their diehard fans. We live in a society right now where people need joy and fun and release. Books are a little harder to make people believe that they will get that joy and release spending committed, considerable time with that book.

You work with clients. You actually guide publishers, production companies, studios, independent authors. Tell us a little bit about what you do for them and how you guide them to go from where they are to where they want to be.

My company Rock Inked, Inc., looks at each potential client on a case by case basis and their needs and goals. For example, one of our current clients has published their own books and is looking to get to the next level (whatever that means to them). Working with that client to get to the next level might mean partnering with a publisher, partnering with a studio, finding a brand sponsor, or doing some events tied to what they’ve already published.

We also consult with a small publisher who for a long time was very comfortable flying under the radar and just being a small publisher. My attitude is, why not think bigger? We recommended a change in strategy and in the last six months, we have gotten so many media hits the publisher can’t keep up. Let me be clear that the books are not mainstream, commercial reads thus the media hits are not from the mainstream media. It is very targeted media that they have always wanted to increase and has shown some success in the past.

 

For an individual author, it really depends on whether they want to independently publish or put their toe in the large pool of traditional publishing. We just need to know what the client’s goals are, and then we help them get there. Sometimes after speaking with me, they realize that what they thought they wanted is not what they want at all. I’m a goal-getter. If you have a goal, my role is to help you get there.