NEW YORK, March 9-Jonathan Merkh has been named Vice President and Publisher of Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, effective March 10.  Mr. Merkh's appointment was announced by Mark Gompertz, Executive Vice President of the company's Touchstone Fireside division, to whom Merkh will report. 

            Mr. Merkh, a veteran of the Christian publishing world, comes to Simon & Schuster from the William Morris Agency.   Prior to that, Mr. Merkh worked at Guideposts, and for 14 years at Thomas Nelson Publishers, including serving as Senior Vice President and Publisher of the Nelson Books Division.

            Under Mr. Merkh's leadership, the Nelson Book division had consistent revenue growth and published more than 20 New York Times bestsellers, including Robin McGraw's Inside My Heart, Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, John and Stasi Eldredge's Wild at Heart and other works,  Dr. John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and books by Franklin Graham, Ted Dekker, Dave Ramsey and Donald Miller. 

            "To be able to bring on board a publisher of Jonathan Merkh's caliber is a wonderful opportunity for Howard Books and Simon & Schuster," said Mark Gompertz.  "He is well-known and highly regarded in both the CBA community and the wider world of publishing, with a substantive track record for publishing books that serve the Christian

marketplace and have broad mainstream appeal.  He is the right person to help us grow this area of our publishing, expanding upon the solid foundation built by John Howard and the rest of Howard Books staff. "

            "Howard Books has a deserved reputation for publishing high-quality faith-based and inspirational books from well-known authors and for every category in the Christian marketplace," said Jonathan Merkh.   "I look forward to joining them and working with the entire S&S team to build Howard's publishing brand and take it to even greater levels of success." 

            Recent bestsellers from Howard Books include Rick Warren's The Purpose of Christmas and the #1 New York Times bestseller Mistaken Identity by  Don and Susie Van Ryn, and Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak.

            In his position, Mr. Merkh will be responsible for all the editorial and marketing functions of Howard Books, and the senior management team, including John Howard, will report to him.

            Mr. Merkh holds a B.A. from Free Will Baptist College and an MBA from Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.  He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

            Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com

CONTACT:    Adam Rothberg

                        Vice President, Corporate Communications

                        212-698-1132, adam.rothberg@simonandschuster.com

Marcia Burch

Touchstone-Fireside-Howard

212-698-2100, Marcia.burch@simonandschuster.com