BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — VeloPress has named Renee Jardine as its new publisher. Jardine was previously the company's editor and associate publisher and has worked in a variety of roles over her 16-year tenure with the company.
Jardine takes over for vice president and publisher Ted Costantino, who retired on March 14 after leading VeloPress for 14 years. VeloPress is the book publishing division of Pocket Outdoor Media, which acquired it, along with VeloNews, Triathlete, Women's Running and other media properties last year.
Costantino said, "Renee has had a hand in every operation behind the scenes, from financial planning to marketing and promotion to royalties to sales support.
"I had always planned to turn over this busy enterprise to Renee and now is a great time to do so."
Under Costantino, VeloPress quintupled sales and revenue to become the top-selling publisher of books about cycling, triathlon, running, and swimming. The press's best sellers include The Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel, Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald, Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance by Lennard Zinn, the Feed Zone Series of cookbooks for athletes by Dr. Allen Lim and chef Biju Thomas, and the Believe Training Journal Series for runners by Lauren Fleshman and Roisin McGettigan-Dumas. VeloPress sells books in over 40 countries and has sold audiobook and foreign language rights into a dozen territories.
Jardine joined VeloPress as managing editor in 2002 and became editor and associate publisher in 2005 when she overhauled the production process to emphasize improved design and higher production values. She was joined that year by Dave Trendler, who modernized the press's sales, marketing, and publicity efforts.
"Renee's keen eye for acquisitions was instrumental in building VeloPress," said Costantino. "And Dave's work to build a national presence for VeloPress helped us reach an audience that wildly exceeded our modest size. Our team set out to make VeloPress the world's top publisher of endurance sports books. We not only met that goal years before we expected, but we have increased our lead in the succeeding years."
