Hachette Book Group

Hachette Book Group
Parent company Hachette Livre
Founded 2006
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location New York City, New York
Key people Michael Pietsch (CEO)
Imprints
  • Grand Central Publishing
  • Little, Brown and Company
  • Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  • Hachette Books
  • Hachette Nashville
  • Orbit
  • Perseus Books
  • Hachette Audio
Official website hachettebookgroup.com

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner on March 31, 2006.[1] Its headquarters are located at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[2] Hachette is considered one of the big-five publishing companies, along with Holtzbrinck/Macmillan, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster.[3] In one year, HBG publishes approximately 1400+ adult books (including 50-100 digital-only titles), 300 books for young readers, and 450 audio book titles (including both physical and downloadable-only titles). In 2016, the company had 214 books on the New York Times bestseller list, 44 of which reached #1.[4]

History

The earliest publisher to eventually become part of the Hachette Book Group was Little, Brown and Company, founded in 1837, acquired by Time Inc. in 1968.[1]

Warner Communications had acquired the Paperback Library in 1970 to form Warner Books.[5] In 1982, CBS Publications sold off Popular Library to Warner.[6] In April 1985, Warner Books relaunched Popular Library starting out with five other books plus the reprint of Question of Upbringing continuing each month with the follow volumes from A Dance to the Music of Time series by Anthony Powell. Also, two books would be issued per month from Popular's new imprint, Questar, for science fiction.[7]

Time Warner was formed in 1989 by the merger of Time and Warner.[8] Publisher Macdonald & Co. was bought in 1992 to become part of the Time Warner Book Group UK, and in 1996 the various branches merged to become Time Warner Trade Publishing, later renamed as Time Warner Book Group. In 2003, Time Warner attempted to sell the Book Group but failed to get high enough bids. In March 2006, Time Warner completed the sale of the Book Group to Lagardère, which placed it under its Hachette Livre book publishing arm.[9] The Warner Books subsidiary was renamed Grand Central Publishing, which launched a more literary imprint, Twelve, under former Random House editor-in-chief Jonathan Karp.[10] On February 5, 2010, Hachette announced that it would adopt an agency pricing model for its e-books.[11]

In April 2012, the United States Department of Justice filed United States v. Apple Inc., naming Apple, Hachette, and four other major publishers as defendants. The suit alleged that they conspired to fix prices for e-books, and weaken Amazon.com's position in the market, in violation of antitrust law.[12] In December 2013, a federal judge approved a settlement of the antitrust claims, in which Hachette and the other publishers paid into a fund that provided credits to customers who had overpaid for books due to the price-fixing.[13]

In June 2013, Hachette announced it would acquire Hyperion Books from Disney Publishing Worldwide.[14][15] In March 2014, Hyperion was renamed Hachette Books with the naming of Crown Archetype editor-in-chief Mauro DiPreta as vice-president and publisher.[16]

In May 2014, Amazon.com announced it was no longer taking pre-orders for Hachette books, stating a breakdown in negotiations over profit-sharing arrangements. According to Hachette, Amazon had also stopped discounting its books, sending prices of Hachette titles in the U.S. to more than twice what they were selling for in the UK.[17] Amazon published a letter in August 2014 asking authors and readers to email Hachette's CEO Michael Pietsch and ask for lower e-book prices. Pietsch reportedly replied to each message he received.[18]

In November 2014, HBG announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase nonfiction publisher Black Dog & Leventhal. The sale was finalized in January 2015, and Black Dog & Leventhal became an imprint of the Hachette Books publishing division.

In June 2014, the company in conjunction with Ingram Content Group, and Perseus Books Group, announced a three-way deal whereby Hachette would buy Perseus and then sell that company's client services businesses to Ingram. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.[19] The deal was called off in August 2014.[20] In March 2016, HBG announced that it had entered into a binding agreement to purchase the publishing division of The Perseus Books Group. Perseus's distribution business was sold to Ingram in a separate move. The sale was completed in April 2016, and the publishing business joined HBG as the Perseus Books publishing group.[21]

In April 2016, HBG announced an agreement to create a joint venture with the Yen Press imprint and Japanese publisher Kadokawa. Yen Press became known as Yen Press LLC, and is no longer considered an imprint of HBG's Orbit publishing division.

Current publishing groups and imprints

Hachette Book Group operates a number of publishing brands aimed at different markets, and these brands themselves contain sub-imprints that are used to publish to an even more targeted audience. Imprints include:[15][22]

Imprint name Market Notes
Grand Central Publishing General market and best-sellers One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group (formerly Warner Books)
Forever Romance novels An imprint of Grand Central Publishing
Forever Yours Digital books An imprint of Grand Central Publishing
Grand Central Life & Style Lifestyle & wellness An imprint of Grand Central Publishing
Twelve Various Publishes one book per month that aspires to be high quality literature or nonfiction; an imprint of Grand Central Publishing
Vision Various Mass-market, "blockbuster" products; an imprint of Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Books Primarily nonfiction One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group; acquired from Disney as Hyperion Books
Hachette Nashville Christian publishing and general market One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group (formerly Warner Faith)
Center Street Traditional values An imprint of Hachette Nashville publishing division
FaithWords Christian Inspirational An imprint of Hachette Nashville publishing division
Little, Brown and Company Founded in 1837; American fiction and non-fiction; focuses on "works of lasting significance"1 U.S.C. § 113 One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group
Back Bay Books Trade paperbacks of fiction and non-fiction including classics and literature An imprint of Little, Brown and Company
Mulholland Books Publishes mysteries, crime novels, thrillers, police procedurals, spy stories, supernatural suspense[23] An imprint of Little, Brown and Company
Lee Boudreaux Books Dedicated to publishing bestselling and award-winning literary fiction notable for unusual stories, unexpected voices, and a strong sense of place. An imprint of Little, Brown and Company
JIMMY Patterson Launched in 2015 by James Patterson, was founded with the ambition of making reading fun for children and making books available to children through teacher scholarships, bookstore funding, school library support, and book donations. An imprint of Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Picture books, hard and softcover fiction and non-fiction for young readers One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group
LB Kids Novelty and brand tie-ins An imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Poppy Teen girls[24] An imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; publishes the series: Gossip Girl, Poseur, It Girl, The A-List, Secrets of My Hollywood Life, and The Clique (series).
Orbit Books Science fiction and fantasy One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group
Redhook Fiction An imprint of Orbit Books
Perseus Books Comprises the imprints Avalon Travel, Basic Books, Da Capo Press, PublicAffairs, Running Press, and Westview Press. Perseus publishing partnerships include Nation Books. One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group
Avalon Travel The #2 guidebook publisher in the U.S., including the #1 bestselling guides to Europe (Rick Steves) and the most extensive list of North American guides (Moon). Avalon’s U.S. market share has more than doubled since 2008. An imprint of Perseus Books
Basic Books Renowned publisher of serious non-fiction by leading intellectuals, scholars and journalists. An imprint of Perseus Books
Da Capo Press Focuses on music, popular culture, history, and sports, with a rich backlist that includes the #1 bestseller Friday Night Lights and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Roots. Da Capo’s wellness imprint, Lifelong Books, is an industry leader in the area of healthful eating and pregnancy. It recently added titles from the Mayo Clinic. An imprint of Perseus Books
PublicAffairs Founded in 1997, PublicAffairs authors have won prizes in history, political science, business and economics, and include many prominent public intellectuals, among them Mohammad Yunus and George Soros. In 2015, they topped bestseller lists with the republication of Black Mass, coinciding with film starring Johnny Depp. An imprint of Perseus Books
Running Press Founded in 1972, Running Press, Running Press Kids, and Running Press Miniature Editions publish books that inspire, entertain and delight readers with innovative formats and irresistible packages for humor, pop culture, activity, cooking and self-help titles. The long-running miniature editions program features original bestsellers like Grow Your Own Mini Bonsai and top licenses like Harry Potter. An imprint of Perseus Books
Hachette Audio Publishes audio versions of Hachette Book Group titles One of the publishing divisions of Hachette Book Group[25]

Inactive imprints

Many imprints have been acquired by the Hachette Group and the companies that were merged to form the group; some are no longer active.

  • Abacus
  • Paperback Library (called the Warner Paperback Library after acquisition by Warner Communications in 1970)
  • Questar Science Fiction
  • Warner Aspect
  • Reagan Arthur Books
  • Jericho Books
  • Business Plus
  • Bulfinch Press (Bulfinch titles are now considered part of Little, Brown & Company.)
  • 5 Spot
  • Weinstein Books: Formerly an imprint of Perseus Books, this publisher was shut down in October 2017 after multiple women accused its founder Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Company History". Hachette Company. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "FAQs." Hachette Book Group. Retrieved on April 17, 2011. "Hachette Book Group Marketing Department 237 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017"
  3. ↑ "Who Are "The Big Six"?". Fiction Matters. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "About Us". Hachette Company. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "Science Fiction & Fantasy Publishers: Warner Books". World With out End. icow.com, LLC. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Copyrights of Golden-Age Comics". Golden-Age Comic book Superheroes & Villains Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. ↑ McDowell, Edwin (November 16, 1984). "PUBLISHING: AUTHOR WINS RECOGNITION LATE". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "Power Failure". VANITY FAIR. July 2002. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "Lagardère to buy Time Warner books". The New York Times. February 6, 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Bosman, Julie (March 26, 2007). "With a New Owner, a Book Publisher Gets a New Name". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Bensinger, Greg; Galante, Joseph (February 5, 2010). "Hachette to Change E-Book Pricing, Joining Macmillan". Business Week. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  12. ↑ Mui, Ylan Q. and Hayley Tsukayama (April 11, 2012). "Justice Department sues Apple, publishers over e-book prices". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  13. ↑ Molina, Brett (March 25, 2014). "E-book price fixing settlements rolling out". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  14. ↑ Lee, Edmund (June 28, 2013). "Hachette Will Acquire Disney's Hyperion Book Publishing Business". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  15. 1 2 "Disney Sells Hyperion Adult Trade List to Hachette". digitalbookworld. June 28, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  16. ↑ "DiPreta Named Publisher of Hachette Books". PublishersWeekly.com. PWxyz, LLC. March 12, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Customers told by Amazon no pre-order of Hachette books will be available". The US News. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  18. ↑ Bishop, Todd. "Hachette CEO replies to Amazon fans: 'These punitive actions are not necessary'". GeekWire. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "Perseus Books Group being acquired by Hachette". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  20. ↑ Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (7 August 2014). "Hachette Calls Off Perseus Book Purchase". The Wall Street Journal.
  21. ↑ Milliot, Jim (6 March 2016). "Hachette Agrees to Buy Perseus Publishing Business". Publisher's Weekly.
  22. ↑ "Publishing groups - Hachette Book Group". Hachette Book Group company website. 2008. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  23. ↑ "About Us - Mulholland Books".
  24. ↑ "Poppy Website". Poppy Official Website. 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  25. ↑ "Publishing Groups - Hachette Book Group". www.hachettebookgroup.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
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