George Platt Brett Jr. | |
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Born |
Darien, Connecticut, U.S. | December 9, 1893
Died | February 11, 1984
Southport, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 90)
Occupation | Publisher |
Known for | Publisher of
Gone with the Wind Head of Macmillan Publishers (United States) |
Spouse | Isabel Stevenson Yeomans |
Children | George Platt Brett III Bruce Yeomans Brett |
Parent |
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George Platt Brett Jr. (December 9, 1893 – February 11, 1984) served at Chairman of the American division of Macmillan Publishing and secured publishing rights to Gone With the Wind. [1]
George Brett started with Macmillan in 1913 as a traveling salesman and took over as President of Macmillan in 1931. Brett took over as chairman in 1936 after the death of his father, George Platt Brett Sr. [2] [3] [4]
Brett is best known for having "scored one of publishing's all-time triumphs by gaining the rights to ' Gone With the Wind.' [1] The success of Gone with the Wind from 1935 to 1936 lead to bonuses of 18% to all employees at Macmillan. Additional literary success under Brett were Rachael Filed's All This and Heaven Too and Katleen Winsor's Forever Amber. [5] In addition, Brett published notable authors C. S. Lewis and Marianne Moore. [6]
In 1939, Brett promoted a special motion picture edition of Gone with the Wind at the same time the film was being released. Brett was the first to introduce marketing a book and movie at the same time. This was perhaps the earliest instance in the book publishing industry of the " tie-in," a marketing strategy which involves a mass media commodity appearing simultaneously in several formats that advertise each other. [7]
In 1944 Brett fought efforts by the British Publisher Bureau to corner the American market for British publishing houses. [8] In 1951, Brett bought the US division from London based Macmillan Publishing. At this time Macmillan was the second largest publisher in the United States [9]
Brett was succeeded by his son, Bruce Y. Brett in 1958. [6]
Brett was born in Darien, Connecticut, and attended the Salisbury School in his home state and the Collegiate School in New York City. Brett was married to Isabel Stevenson Yeomans. [1] [11] He died in 1984. [12]