David C Cook has announced that Verne Kenney has been hired as its executive publisher. Kenney will assume the responsibilities that Dan Rich held as head of David C Cook Trade Books and Media until a long-term chief publishing officer is hired.

“Dan and his team have built a solid and sustainable Trade Book and Media unit over the last nine years,” said Chief Executive Officer Cris Doornbos. “With Dan’s pending retirement at the end of May 2015, along with the dramatic changes and challenges in Christian publishing overall, I see this as a window of opportunity to intentionally re-visit our publishing strategy and develop a long-term strategic model. Once we determine the best ‘go forward strategy,’ we will resume our search for a new chief publishing officer.”

Kenney is a trusted and respected colleague within the Christian publishing industry. While at Zondervan, Kenney led the team that collaborated with Randy Frazee and Max Lucado’s “The Story” campaign, which has been adopted by thousands of churches worldwide. Concurrently with his role as executive vice president of sales for Zondervan, Kenney also was appointed trade book publisher and head of marketing, leading those teams on an interim basis. In addition, he ran the Spanish Vida publishing business, turning it profitable and increasing its reach significantly in subsequent years. 

“I’m so pleased to be joining the David C Cook team,” Kenney said. “It’s great to be with a company driven by a mission to serve the local church in a global way. Cook is uniquely positioned as a global leader in serving the church with engaging, biblically-based content and I look forward to working with them to advance their mission.”

In this unique role that reports directly to Doornbos, Kenney will develop and document a proposed ‘Go Forward Strategic Plan’ with the Trade Books and Media team. Additionally, he will be responsible for co-creating a future focused set of new activities, processes and business models for Trade Books.

“For over 20 years I have enjoyed knowing and working together with Verne,” Doornbos said. “He has the experience and the objective assertiveness I’m looking for, with a history of successful strategic planning and a way of thinking ‘outside the book’ that I truly respect.”

Kenney will oversee all day-to-day operations of the Trade Book and Media unit beginning March 23, from acquisition and development of new book projects, to developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies. Kenney’s expertise has proven that he is successful at creating the strategies necessary to deliver impactful books to the market place.

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