When Jane Friedman took charge of HarperCollins in 1997, there were rumours that Rupert Murdoch was ready to sell the publisher.

With a profits plunge of 80% and warehouses full of unsold books, many thought that News Corporation, the company's owner, wanted rid of the loss-making publisher.

But just three years later profits had doubled. And the latest figures show that the company is outperforming its main rivals.

The person credited with this turnaround, Jane Friedman, is proud not only of her achievement but of being a woman who made it to the top.

"I am the proverbial 'start off in the mailroom and become the CEO'," she said, adding: "It can be done."

'No glass ceiling'

In 2001 Ms Friedman won the Matrix Award honouring "women who changed the world".

I proved to the world of publishing that there is no glass ceiling

Jane Friedman

She believes that in publishing she has helped prove that women can be as successful as men.

"I proved to the world of publishing that there is no glass ceiling for us," she said in an interview for BBC HARDtalk.

"Women can achieve, I have achieved in my way.

"I do think that you are seeing more women rising up in American industry, [but] not as fast as they should.

"I don't think they are recognised to be as decisive as they actually can be in business in general."

Shooting up the ranks

Jane Friedman started her career in publishing over 30 years ago in the typing pool at Random House.

Publishing is traditionally a male-dominated industry

"I started as a dictaphone typist, which is a profession that doesn't exist today," she explained.

"I would come into my office and plug earphones into my ears and touch a pedal with my foot, and I would type contracts for Random House publishers."

Over the next three decades, Ms Friedman worked in every area of publishing and rose through the ranks at Random House to become executive vice president, before moving to HarperCollins in 1997.

Her achievements at Random House included founding Random House Audio Publishing, which today is one of the largest audio publishing companies.

No regrets

At HarperCollins, one of the leading English-language publishers in the world, she is responsible for everything the company publishes in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and, most importantly of all, the US.

I think it's harder for women because we were not put on this earth to be business people, we were put on earth to procreate

Jane Friedman

When Ms Friedman took over HarperCollins in 1997 she controversially cut back the number of titles by 25% and cancelled a number of authors' contracts.

But she has no regrets about the decision.

"We just looked at how to make our list more profitable and that was just to reduce the number of titles - which I think is being done across the board and if it isn't it should be," she said.

In spite of the controversy, the industry has acknowledged the continued success of HarperCollins.

In March this year the company was named Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards, recognition for not only the popularity of its titles but for its healthy sales.

And American author Ann Patchett won this year's prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel "Bel Canto".

The award, given to the best novel by a woman, is one of the biggest literary prizes and is worth �30,000.

Mixing business with procreation

In April this year a survey by Management Today magazine of Britain's 50 most powerful women concluded that women are still being forced to choose between motherhood and a career.

Ms Friedman acknowledged that despite her success women still face a struggle to be accepted in the workplace.

"I think it's harder for women because we were not put on this earth to be business people, we were put on earth to procreate and some of us have procreated and also been good in business.

"It's a rough road so the focus, the determination, the ability to multi-task - a terrible word but absolutely true - [are] I think absolutely prominent in women."

But she concluded experience has showed her that some things will never change.

"The most brilliant concept that has ever come out of book publishing is 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'," she said.

"The older I get, the more I realise that we are so different in lots of ways."