# Cindy Spiegel

> Cindy Spiegel (born Celina Spiegel) is a New York book publisher and co-founder, with Julie Grau, of the independent press Spiegel & Grau. Over three decades she helped build Riverhead Books and the original Spiegel & Grau imprint, editing and launching authors including Khaled Hosseini, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bryan Stevenson, Trevor Noah and Piper Kerman. After Penguin Random House shut their imprint in 2019, the two partners rebuilt the company from scratch in 2020 as an independent house that pairs books with audio, podcasts and a first-look film and television deal.

- **Role:** Co-Founder, Partner and Co-CEO at Spiegel & Grau
- **Organizations:** Spiegel & Grau, Riverhead Books, Random House, Penguin
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** M.A., Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley, B.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded two influential publishing houses: Riverhead Books (1994) and Spiegel & Grau (2005, relaunched independent 2020)., Edited and acquired The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini., Acquired James McBride's The Color of Water at Riverhead.

## Career timeline

- **1994** — Co-founds Riverhead Books at Penguin as one of four founding editors; later becomes co-editorial director and co-publisher.
- **2005** — Leaves Riverhead with Julie Grau to launch the Spiegel & Grau imprint at Random House's Doubleday division.
- **2019** — Penguin Random House shuts the Spiegel & Grau imprint; Spiegel and Grau depart.
- **2020** — Relaunches Spiegel & Grau as an independent publisher with Julie Grau, planning 15-20 books a year plus audio and podcasts.
- **2021** — Publishes first independent title, Catherine Raven's Fox and I, an instant New York Times bestseller.

## Achievements

- Co-founded two influential publishing houses: Riverhead Books (1994) and Spiegel & Grau (2005, relaunched independent 2020).
- Edited and acquired The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
- Acquired James McBride's The Color of Water at Riverhead.
- Published Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, and Piper Kerman's Orange Is the New Black.
- Edited bestsellers by Yuval Noah Harari, Anne Lamott, Yann Martel, Dan Pink and others.
- Launched the careers of Gary Shteyngart, Chang-rae Lee, Philipp Meyer, ZZ Packer and Danzy Senna.
- Co-edited the anthology Out of the Garden: Women Writers on the Bible.
- Rebuilt Spiegel & Grau as an independent press with a first-look film/TV deal and a podcast partnership.

## Latest updates

- **2021-06** — Spiegel & Grau's first independent title, Catherine Raven's Fox and I, becomes an instant New York Times bestseller.
- **2023-10** — Publishes Margaret Renkl's The Comfort of Crows and Shelley Read's Go As a River among its growing independent list.
- **2026-01** — Kathryn Stockett's second novel slated for publication with Spiegel & Grau.

## Links

- Website: https://spiegelandgrau.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-spiegel-b621ab8
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/spiegelandgrau
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiegelandgrau/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spiegelandgrau/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/cindy-spiegel
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25