Matthew Shear, Book Publisher, Dies at 57

Matthew Shear, the publisher of St. Martin’s Press, who helped writers like Janet Evanovich and Augusten Burroughs climb the best-seller lists, died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 57.

A spokeswoman for St. Martin’s Press, where Mr. Shear was executive vice president and publisher, said the cause was complications of lung cancer.

Mr. Shear was a book publisher for more than 35 years and had worked at St. Martin’s since 1995.

In 2001 he published Ms. Evanovich’s first No. 1 New York Times best seller, “Hot Six.” “Running With Scissors” (2002), Mr. Burroughs’s first memoir, was on the Times list for three years and was adapted into a film starring Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin in 2006.

Matthew Joel Shear was born in Manhattan on Nov. 4, 1955. He graduated from Hofstra University with a theater degree in 1976.

In 1977 he became publicity manager at the New American Library. He later worked for Bantam Books, the Berkeley Publishing Group and Ballantine before joining St. Martin’s.

He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Sabrina; their daughters, Lindsey Munro and Hayley Shear; his mother, Sonia Aarons; and a sister, Stacey Hilsenrod.

A version of this article appears in print on August 31, 2013, on page D8 of the New York edition with the headline: Matthew Shear, Book Publisher, 57.