Former David C Cook publisher fills role as Steve Cobb retires from significant career in Christian publishing

The WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group has had a change at the top. Steve Cobb, president and publisher, retired after 18 years with the company, while Alex Field—most recently vice president and publisher for David C Cook—joined WaterBrook in December in the same role he held at Cook.

In a letter to Crown employees, Tina Constable, senior vice president and publisher, Christian publishing, at Crown Publishing Group—of which WaterBrook Multnomah is a part—reflected on this time of transition as “a transformative moment in the life of the Crown Publishing Group’s religious publishing program.”

“With our WaterBrook Press, Multnomah Books, Convergent Books and Image imprints, ours is the only such program in trade publishing with dedicated imprints to serve every major Christian tradition,” said Constable, who has been with WaterBrook Multnomah for five months but with Penguin Random House for 28 years. “Religious publishing is a core business for us—and one that we are strongly invested in growing, by building upon the firm foundation established under Steve.”

Constable celebrated the diversity of the company while announcing a refreshed editorial mission for each imprint.

“These changes are intended to strengthen our ability to focus, and enhance, the distinct core strengths and sensibilities of WaterBrook, Multnomah and Convergent, respectively,” Constable said in the letter. “We are committed to advancing our mission of publishing books that meet the interests of a full spectrum of readers, in acknowledging and respecting the vibrant theological diversity within the Christian community.”

Constable called Field a “true rising star in the Christian publishing community and a man of deep and humble faith.”

She applauded his many skills and strategic work with David C Cook.

“Alex’s sharp editorial focus, creative energy and broad management experience—coupled with his deep personal faith—make him ideally suited to lead WaterBrook Multnomah as we embark together to build upon our rich history in the evangelical space,” Constable said.

Cobb was a founding executive of WaterBrook in 1996, when the imprint was launched as an autonomous evangelical Christian publishing division of then Bantam Doubleday Dell. He later played an instrumental role in the purchase of Harold Shaw Publishers in 2000 and the acquisition of Multnomah Publishers in 2006. In 2005, Cobb took on oversight for Doubleday’s Image line. In 2012, he founded Convergent Books, an imprint for “progressive Christians.”

Convergent published Matthew Vines’ God and the Gay Christian, which set off a firestorm of controversy and eventually led to WaterBrook Multnomah’s resignation from National Religious Broadcasters’ membership. The move to New York puts greater distance between Convergent and the evangelical  WaterBrook Press and Multnomah Books.

Maya Mavjee, president and publisher at Crown, expressed “mixed emotions” as she announced Cobb’s retirement in a separate letter to Crown employees. She said Cobb “has provided inspiring and dedicated leadership for our religion publishing program for nearly 20 years.”

The company restructuring also means that the position of vice president, editor in chief at WaterBrook Multnomah was eliminated, leading Kenneth Petersen to leave the company in November. —Christine D. Johnson

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