Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times David Zinczenko in his office at Men’s Health in 2010. He now operates his own company, Galvanized Media.David Zinczenko, the former Rodale Press executive with a talent for self-promotion and sculpturing physiques, has signed on with Random House to provide some juice to its health and fitness offerings.
At the end of 2012, Mr. Zinczenko left his prominent positions as the editor of Men’s Health magazine and the general manager of Rodale’s Healthy Living Group and Rodale Books. Though his contract was up, he also had been clashing with Rodale’s owners, who found that his talent for being in the spotlight tended to detract from their brand, according to people in the publishing industry.
He then started his own company, Galvanized Media, with Stephen Perrine, another Rodale executive.
On Monday, Random House will announce that it has come to agreement with Mr. Zinczenko to give him his own imprint, distribution and multimillion-dollar book publishing deal with its Ballantine Bantam Dell division. Random House called the deal “unprecedented in scope†for that division.
As might be expected, Mr. Zinczenko has big plans for the imprint. “I anticipate we will swiftly branch out into books on overall health and wellness as well as self-help and even business and perhaps children,†he said in an interview by phone last week.
The first part of the deal is that Mr. Zinczenko, who has helped write best-selling health and fitness books including the “Eat This, Not That†series (which sold seven million copies in the North America) and “The Abs Diet,†will now write three yet-to-be-titled books on exercise, diet and nutrition for Ballantine. The first book will appear in 2014.
Mr. Zinczenko has also entered into a partnership with the Random House Publishing Group to form a new imprint â€" Zinc Ink â€" which will publish six to 12 general nonfiction and lifestyle books annually, beginning next year. He and the publishing house will share in profits.
Among the books the new imprint will announce Monday are “The EveryGirl’s Diet†by the best-selling author Maria Menounos, and “Sleekify†by the boxer and celebrity trainer Michael Olajide Jr.
Additionally, Random House will distribute books created and packaged by Galvanized in association with magazine publishers and other media clients. The first announced partner is American Media Inc., a publisher that owns Shape and Men’s Fitness. As distributor, Random House will keep a percentage of book sales.
