Former Atkins VP Of Marketing Joins Rodale

Rodale has established itself as the industry leader in health books

Rodale, Inc. announced today in a press release that Nancy Hancock, former Vice-President of Marketing, Publicity and Publications for the line of books written by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins, has joined their team to immediately begin marketing and developing new health and weight loss writers to continue their respectable reputation for producing very desirable, bestselling diet books.

Liz Perl, who serves as the Vice-President and Publisher of Rodale Trade Books, says she is excited to see what Hancock will bring to the table for Rodale with her wealth of knowledge not only with the Atkins publishing line, but also from her most recent stint with Simon and Schuster's Touchstone/Fireside imprint where she has served as Senior Editor since 2004.

"Nancy's expertise in the field of health and wellness, coupled with her marketing and brand-building savvy, make her the perfect addition to the Rodale team," Perl exclaimed. "I look forward to seeing Nancy's authors and books flourish at Rodale, where we support our health and wellness books across a broad range of media platforms, reaching nearly 40 million people monthly."

The Rodale name has quickly become synonymous with high-quality health and weight loss books in the past few years with such bestsellers as The South Beach Diet, The Abs Diet, and The Biggest Loser books. It will be interesting to see if Hancock can recognize and find any of the new and upcoming health writers that are already out there making a difference in their spheres of influence and needing a means for attracting a larger audience for what they are already doing. With her impressive pedigree in this business, I have no doubt she will find those diamonds in the rough in very short order.

I'm sure if Dr. Atkins were still around today that he would be one of the first people to give credit to Hancock where credit is due for making him a household name. Her work not only included five bestselling books, but also a subscription newsletter, multimedia presence and various subsidiary products to complement his books. What a privilege it must have been for Hancock to be such an integral part of something that has changed the lives of millions of people worldwide!

My life will never be the same again because of my decision in late 2003 to read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. That little book that has sold tens of millions helped me shed 180 pounds off of my body for good in 2004 and now I'm livin' la vida low-carb. I suppose I owe my weight loss success in part to Hancock for her foresight and ability to effectively market the Atkins name as a brand that virtually everyone has heard of by now.

For that, I must say THANK YOU to you, Ms. Hancock, on behalf of ALL of the people who have been on the Atkins diet and succeeded. We appreciate what YOU did to help us find our way to permanent weight loss success and pay homage to you for your role in offering the Atkins diet to the public.

You can e-mail your congratulations to Nancy Hancock for her new position at Rodale by writing to her new boss, Liz Perl or you can e-mail Hancock directly by clicking here.

8-1-06 UPDATE: Nancy Hancock read my blog post about her new hiring at Rodale and sent me this kind and considerate e-mail.

Dear Jimmy,

Thank you for your enthusiastic welcome! I am thrilled to hear of your weight loss success and applaud you for living a healthy lifestyle. I do often meet people with similar stories and I will say that it is very gratifying to be part of something that makes such a huge difference in someone's life.

I appreciate your support and look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

All the best,
Nancy