Stephen S. Power

Executive Editor
#1 New York Times-bestselling editor and former Big 5 executive editor with 500+ titles

Stephen S. Power is a 30-year publishing veteran who has acquired and edited more than 500 books, including many New York Times bestsellers.

At Kevin Anderson, he builds books from the ground up: strategizing marketable ideas, developing outlines, editing manuscripts, and writing book proposals for placement with agents or publishers. Several of his proposals have sold for six-figure advances, and several of the books he’s worked on have become New York Times bestsellers, including Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman, Baby Steps Millionaires by Dave Ramsey. Four other books have become Wall Street Journal bestsellers, such as Jeff Lerner’s  Unlock Your Potential, which hit #1 on that list and #1 on Publishers Weekly nonfiction list. He also brings in new authors as clients and new writers to work with them, creates alliances with agents, publishers and other organizations to bring in new authors, and develops major new services, such as the Cultural Accuracy Reading Service.

As Executive Editor at Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, he worked on nonfiction bestsellers, including New York Times bestsellers by Bernie Sanders, John Boehner (which hit #1), John Kasich, Terry McAuliffe, Bandy X. Lee, Cliff Sims and Ramin Setoodeh, as well as fiction by Anne Griffin and Jonathan Vatner.

Prior to Tom Dunne Books, he worked on business books for Amacom where he had three books win or be longlisted for Porchlight Best Business Book awards. He handled nonfiction in many genres at Wiley, where he expanded the history list, started a sports list, published Times bestsellers by Tedy Bruschi, Don Felder and Keith Olbermann and commissioned a book that won an Edgar Award in the Best Critical/Biographical book category. At Avon Books, where he began his career, he started a history imprint and health imprint, managed all media tie-ins, and worked on books in every genre except romance (although he’s all for romance as both a genre and a practice). 

He’s also a novelist, short story writer, and Pushcart-nominated poet. Although he was born in the city and raised in the New York suburbs, he’s lived in New Jersey for two decades and thus wonders what that makes him now.

You can find him on LinkedIn here and, because one is what they read, on Goodreads here.

Selected Publications

Politics

  • Editor, On the House by John Boehner (St. Martin’s Press, 2021)
    • #1 New York Times bestseller
  • Editor, The Hunting of Hillary by Michael D’Antonio (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, High Crimes by Michael D’Antonio and Peter Eisner (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, Still Right by Rick Tyler (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump by Bandy Lee (Thomas Dunne, 2019)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, Team of Vipors by Cliff Sims (Thomas Dunne, 2019)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, Beyond Charlottesville by Governor Terry McAuliffe (Thomas Dunne, 2019)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, Where We Go from Here by Bernie Sanders (Thomas Dunne, 2018)

    • Washington Post bestseller

  • Editor, President Carter by Stuart E. Eizenstat (Thomas Dunne, 2018)
  • Editor, Two Paths by John Kasich (Thomas Dunne, 2017)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, Pitchforks and Torches by Keith Olbermann (Wiley, 2010)

Business

  • Editor, Give a F*ck, Actually: Reclaim Yourself with the 5 Steps of Radical Emotional Acceptance by Alex Wills (Skyhorse, 2023)
    • Wall Street Journal bestseller
  • Editor, Good Money Revolution: How to Make More Money to Do More Good by Derrick Kinney (Skyhorse, 2022)
    • Wall Street Journal bestseller
  • Editor, The Virtual Leader: How to Manage a Remote Workplace by Takako Hirata (Matt Holt, 2022)
    • Wall Street Journal bestseller
  • Editor, Sell with a Story by Paul Smith (AMACOM, 2022)
  • Editor, Under Water by Ryan Dezember (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, Win or Die by Bruce Craven (Thomas Dunne, 2019)
  • Editor, The 10 Laws of Trust by Joel Peterson (HarperCollins Leadership, 2019)
  • Editor, The Power of Stay Interviews by Richard P. Finnegan (Society For Human Resource Management, 2018)
  • Editor, Lead Right for Your Company’s Type by Willian E. Schneider (AMACOM, 2017)
    • Porchlight Leadership Book of the Year Long List
  • Editor, Trust Factor by Paul J. Zak (AMACOM, 2017)
  • Editor, Winning Well by Karin Hurt and David Dye (AMACOM, 2016)
    • Porchlight Management Book of the Year Long List
  • Editor, Leading the Unleadable by Alan Willett (AMACOM, 2016)
  • Editor, Smart Mom, Rich Mom by Kimberly Palmer (AMACOM, 2016)
  • Editor, Jobs to be Done by Stephen Wunker (AMACOM, 2016)
  • Editor, The Hidden Leader by Scott M. Edinger and Lauri Sain (AMACOM, 2015)

    • Wall Street Journal bestseller

  • Editor, We Are Market Basket by Daniel Korschun and Grant Welker (AMACOM, 2015)
    • Porchlight General Interest Business Book of the Year
  • Editor, Make it Matter by Scott Mautz (AMACOM, 2015)
  • Editor, Lead with Humility by Jeffrey Krames (AMACOM, 2014)

Memoir/Biography/History

  • Editor, Rachel Maddow by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, The Spy in Moscow Station by Eric Haseltine (Thomas Dunne, 2019)
  • Editor, The Girl in the Photograph by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (Thomas Dunne, 2019)
  • Editor, Live Long and… by William Shatner (Thomas Dunne, 2018)
  • Editor, Relentless by Yngwie J. Malmsteen (Wiley, 2013)
  • Editor, Dani’s Story by Dian and Bernie Lierow (Wiley, 2011)
  • Editor, How Ike Led by Susan Eisenhower (HarperCollins, 2010)
  • Editor, Hero of the Pacific by John Basilone (Wiley, 2010)
  • Editor, Rage Company by Thomas P. Daly (Wiley, 2010)
  • Editor, Leonardo’s Lost Princess by Peter Saverman (Wiley, 2010)
  • Editor, Heaven and Hell by Don Felder (Wiley, 2009)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, Some Like it Hot by Tony Curtis (Wiley, 2009)
  • Editor, The Fate of the Romanovs by Greg King and Penny Wilson (Wiley, 2005)
  • Editor, Mysteries of my Father by Thomas Elowming (Wiley, 2005)
  • Editor, Caesar’s Legion by Stephen Dando Collins (Wiley, 2004)

Sports

  • Editor, Here’s the Catch by Ron Swoboda (Thomas Dunne, 2019)
  • Editor, Houdini Shots by Martin Hall (Wiley, 2013)
  • Editor, Perfection by Bob Griese (Wiley, 2012)
  • Editor, Build the Swing of a Lifetime by Mike Bender (Wiley, 2012)
  • Editor, The Complete Hogan by Jim McLean (Wiley, 2012)
  • Editor, Trading Paint by Jerry Bonkowski (Wiley, 2010)
  • Editor, Essentials of the Swing by Hank Haney (Wiley, 2009)
  • Editor, Putting My Way by Jack Nicklaus (Wiley, 2009)
  • Editor, The Slot Swing by Jim McLean (Wiley, 2009)
  • Editor, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching by Yogi Berra (Wiley, 2009)
  • Editor, Never Give Up by Tedy Brushci (Wiley, 2008)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, The Secret of Hogan’s Swing by Tom Bertrand and Printer Bowler (Wiley, 2008)
  • Editor, The Fight of the Century by Michael Arkush (Wiley, 2007)
  • Editor, Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball by Scott Simon (Wiley, 2007)
  • Editor, The Legend of Bagger Vance: Golf and the Game of Life by Steven Pressfield (Avon Books, 1996)

Pop Culture

  • Editor, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office by by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman (Harpercollins, 2021)
    • New York Times bestseller
  • Editor, And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles by Ken McNab (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, Who is Alex Trebeck by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, Ask a Philosopher by Ian Olasov (Thomas Dunne, 2020)
  • Editor, Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View by Ramin Setoodeh (Thomas Dunne, 2019)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, 1973 Rock at the Crossroads by Andrew Grant Jackson (Thomas Dunne, 2019)
  • Editor, Let the Good Times Roll by Kenney Jones (Thomas Dunne, 2018)
  • Editor, Making Rumours by Ken Caillat (Wiley, 2012)
  • Editor, Jack the Ripper and the Case for Scotland Yards Prime Suspect by Robert House (Wiley, 2011)
  • Editor, All Facts Considered by Kee Malesky (Wiley, 2010)
  • Editor, Criminal Minds by Jeff Mariotte (Wiley, 2010)
  • Editor, Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga by Ian Christe (Wiley, 2008)
  • Editor, The History Detectives by Barbara King (Wiley, 2008)
  • Editor, I Am Murdered by Bruce Chadwick (Wiley, 2009)
  • Editor, The Science of Sherlock Holmes by E.J. Wagner (Wiley, 2007)
    • Edgar Award
  • Editor, The Worst Person in the World by Keith Olbermann (Wiley, 2006)

    • New York Times bestseller

  • Editor, The Science of Superheroes by Lois Gresh and Rober Weinberg (Wiley, 2003)

Science

  • Editor, The Happiness Curve by Jonathan Rauch (Picador, 2019)
  • Editor, Troubled Water by Seth M. Siegel (Thomas Dunne, 2019)
  • Editor, This is the Way the World Ends by Jeff Nesbit (Thomas Dunne, 2018)
  • Editor, The Power of Persuasion by Robert Levine (Wiley, 2006)
  • Editor, The Secret Life of Dust by Hannah Holmes (Wiley, 2003)
  • Editor, The Quantum Brain by Jeffrey Satinover (Wiley, 2002)
  • Editor, The Dawn of Human Culture by Richard G. Klein (Wiley, 2002)
  • Editor, Calendar by David Ewing Duncan (Harper Perennial, 1999)

Fiction

  • Editor, When All is Said by Anne Griffin (Picador, 2020)
    • #1 Irish bestseller