Grand Central Publishing (GCP) is excited to announce the acquisition of BETTER, NOT BITTER: Living On Purpose in The Pursuit of Racial Justice by Yusef Salaam, member of the Exonerated Five and an award-winning motivational and transformational speaker, thought leader, NYT bestselling author and coach.
Seema Mahanian, Editor at GCP acquired the North American rights from Cait Hoyt of Creative Artists Agency. BETTER, NOT BITTER: Living On Purpose in The Pursuit of Racial Justice will be published in hardcover print, e-book and audio editions in the Spring of 2021.
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New York-November 18, 2020
Ben Sevier, SVP and Publisher of Grand Central Publishing (GCP) announced today that Nana K. Twumasi will join GCP on December 1, 2020 as Vice President and Publisher of a new imprint, GCP Balance.
Twumasi joins GCP from Callisto Media where she led a team of editors responsible for initiating approximately 80 books per year in the wellness space. Her expertise in self-help/psychology and wellness publishing, and in mining consumer interest to drive publishing strategy, has led to bestselling titles such as The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners by Amy Ramos, Retrain Your Brain by Seth Gillihan, and The Complex PTSD Workbook by Arielle Schwartz. Prior to Callisto, she held editorial positions at Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons and at several non-profits in the Bay Area.
GCP Balance will be dedicated to publishing the best practical nonfiction across the wide spectrum from health/wellness to business/success, including psychology, self-help, diet, how-to, inspiration, work/life, management, and leadership. Planned to launch in the first quarter of 2022 with approximately 24 titles per year, GCP Balance will combine the best of GCP’s strengths in author-driven and platform-driven publishing with a digital-forward, consumer-focused mindset. Twumasi will take over as Publisher of Dr. William Li’s bestselling Eat to Beat series; the bestselling DASH Diet franchise by Marla Heller; and will champion a backlist that includes category bestsellers across the practical nonfiction spectrum, from Deep Work by Cal Newport and It’s Your Ship by Captain Michael Abrashoff to Mindbody Prescription and Healing Back Pain by John Sarno, MD.
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Paris-November 5, 2020
Lagardère announced results for the first nine months of 2020 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, “HBG had an extremely strong third quarter, as bookstores reopened across the country, with revenues 19.2% above 2019. This is due to strong performances in several areas, especially children’s books, science fiction, general fiction, and audio, which have helped to offset the impact of the continuing global health crisis on some of our businesses.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers had a stellar quarter, with two major #1 bestsellers – Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun, one of the biggest books of the year, and Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Orbit Books continued its success with Andzrej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series, and had two significant industry awards, a Hugo Award for The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey and a World Fantasy Award for Kacen Callendar’s Queen of the Conquered. Grand Central Publishing had another massive #1 bestseller with Nicholas Sparks’s The Return, and Hachette Audio continued its growth thanks to downloadable audio sales of Midnight Sun, The Witcher series, and continuing sales of Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers. A strong lineup of anti-racism titles from our backlist were among HBG’s top sellers of the quarter, including Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (Bold Type Books), So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (Seal Press) and Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum (Basic Books).
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New York-October 29, 2020
The acclaimed imprint Christy Ottaviano Books will move to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, effective November 30. Executive Vice President and Publisher Megan Tingley announced that Christy Ottaviano, currently publisher of her eponymous imprint at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, will join Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as Vice President, Publisher of Christy Ottaviano Books along with Editor Jessica Anderson. The team will publish approximately thirty titles per year encompassing literary and commercial fiction and nonfiction from preschool through young adult. Their inaugural list will launch in 2022.
“In our conversations over the years, I’ve always felt that Christy is a kindred spirit—we share the same mission of publishing works that speak directly to young readers and that reflect the diversity of our world,” Tingley notes. “She is truly an ‘editor’s editor’—the fact that her long-time authors plan to move to Little, Brown with her is a testament to Christy’s dedication to nurturing both debut and established authors and to building fulfilling long-term careers for them. This is a rare opportunity to bring an established imprint to our division, and we are excited to welcome Christy, Jessica, and their extraordinary list of authors and illustrators and helping them flourish here.”
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New York, NY—October 29, 2020
Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group, announced today the launch of Legacy Lit, the first imprint dedicated to books for and by people of color at Hachette Book Group. The new imprint will be led by newly named Vice President and Publisher Krishan Trotman. Trotman and her team will publish books that give voice to issues, authors, and communities that have been marginalized, underserved, and overlooked. Legacy Lit will publish narrative nonfiction, memoir, investigative, women’s interest, current events, social justice, cultural and empowerment titles, along with select fiction offerings. The imprint will launch its first titles in January 2022.
Trotman and her team will curate a list of about twelve to fifteen titles a year. Books by authors such as Faith Jenkins, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Van Lathan, Marisa Renee Lee, David Ambroz, Baynard Woods, Shanita Hubbard, D. Watkins, Daniela Pierre-Bravo, Devin Allen, V. Maia Thomas and others will be published under the new imprint. Trotman will build a diverse list and aims to put a much-needed spotlight on stories for and by BIPOC writers, and create awareness and expand visibility of BIPOC voices, industry professionals, booksellers, influencers, and press.
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New York—September 15, 2020
Hachette Book Group (HBG) has launched a program to provide select school libraries across the country with a collection of books that provide resources to students to learn about the importance of anti-racism, empathy, and social justice.
These collections have been carefully curated for elementary and secondary school libraries and include such notable and bestselling titles as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Becoming Kareem, Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, Sharee Miller’s Princess Hair, Todd Parr’s Be Who You Are, Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi’s Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You, Jewell Parker Rhodes’ Ghost Boys and Sugar, and Beverly Tatum’s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, among others.
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Forever Announces Open Submissions for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Authors
New York—September 15, 2020
Forever, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing (GCP), believes that everyone deserves a happily-ever-after. To help give voice to typically underrepresented stories in the romance and women’s fiction genres, Forever is announcing an open submissions policy for BIPOC authors. This new policy is effective immediately.
“The ongoing conversations about diversity and inclusion within publishing has brought more awareness to our need for better representation on our lists,” said Beth de Guzman, VP Digital and Paperback Publisher at Grand Central and Forever. “We’re looking forward to hearing from new voices, reading their work, and helping to share it.”
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Paris—July 30, 2020
Lagardère announced results for First Half 2020 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, “HBG’s first-half revenues held, declining only slightly despite the vast business challenges of the pandemic. Especially strong performances came from the Orbit division with The Witcher novels, fueled by the successful Netflix series, and Little, Brown, with continuing sales of Malcolm Gladwell’s 2019 bestseller Talking to Strangers. Unit sales grew over last year, with an increase in sales of lower-price formats such as mass-market paperbacks, ebooks, and downloadable audio largely offsetting decreases in adult hardcovers and trade paperbacks. During the pandemic, the work of our warehouse team to keep our books shipping has been remarkable, and our marketing and publicity groups have nimbly reinvented the ways we connect writers with readers.
The fact that the massive retail disruption caused by the pandemic did not impact revenues significantly demonstrates the enduring appeal of books, the benefits of our multi-outlet, multi-format business, and the deep attachment readers have to Hachette’s authors. Readers need books and will seek them out in many places even when favorite independent and chain bookstores are closed. We have worked closely with independent bookstores to help them reopen, with an extensive offer of special terms.
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Paris—April 30, 2020
Lagardère announced results for First Quarter 2020 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “We started the year strongly, with revenues and profits solidly up over 2019. Major publications in the quarter included James Patterson’s #1 bestseller Blindside, Harlan Coben’s #1 bestseller The Boy from the Woods, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s Crooked River, Dr. Mark Hyman’s Food Fix, and Anne Glenconner’s Lady in Waiting, plus four #1 bestsellers from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi, A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer, Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison, and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher series continued its long run, helping the Orbit imprint achieve #1 market share in Science Fiction and Fantasy for the quarter. And the downloadable audio format continued its growth trajectory, led by Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers.
“We continued growing with the acquisition of Disney Book Group titles, adding a rich catalog of over 1,000 backlist and 40 forthcoming books to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. And we took on a new third-party distribution client, National Geographic, which goes live October 1.
“As the first quarter closed, we entered a world completely changed by COVID 19. We are grateful for the partnership and close connection with our employees, booksellers, authors, librarians, and everyone in the community of publishing that is helping us to move forward resolutely and hopefully through these extreme circumstances.”
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New York—March 15, 2020
Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group, announced today the hiring of Bruce Nichols as Senior Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company. He will join the company on May 4.
Nichols has been SVP and Publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt since 2009, during which time he has led significant expansion of the company’s range of publishing and grown revenue more than 65%. In 2019, Nichols took on the leadership of HMH’s new audiobooks division.
At HMH, Nichols oversaw the full range of adult publishing which includes fiction, nonfiction, and lifestyle books. He is recognized for publishing bestselling books in politics, history, and science, among other categories, and he has overseen publishing programs for major commercial brands including The Whole30 and the Tolkien estate. Under his leadership HMH has also built their fiction list and notched commercial successes including Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black, Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway mystery series, and The Chosen Ones, the first novel for adults by Veronica Roth, #1 bestselling author of the Divergent series. And Nichols has led the creation of a powerful catalog of lifestyle titles from diverse voices such as Antoni Porowski, Urvashi Vaid, and Maangchi, among others.
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Paris—February 27, 2020
Lagardère announced their 2019 full-year revenue and profits today. Highlights are as follows:
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch commented “Hachette Book Group’s profit growth in 2019 was propelled by excellent performances in our adult and children’s publishing divisions, at Hachette Audio, and by continued focus on efficiency.
Despite a challenging comparison to 2018, which featured the major fiction hits The President Is Missing by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson and Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks, in 2019 we achieved almost the same level of revenues, led by news-driving nonfiction bestsellers including Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, A Warning by Anonymous, Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill, and Donald Trump Jr.’s Triggered. Fiction top sellers included James Patterson’s 18th Abduction and Criss Cross, three novels from David Baldacci (Redemption, One Good Deed, and A Minute to Midnight), and Michael Connelly’s The Night Fire. We also saw exceptional sales from our backlist, notably Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, Jen Sincero’s You Are a Badass, Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette, and Admiral William McRaven’s Make Your Bed. Downloadable audio continued its steady upward trend with a 28% increase in 2019, led by Talking to Strangers, which has held the #1 slot on the New York Times Audio Bestseller list for seven months.
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New York—February 20, 2020
Hachette Book Group (HBG) announced today that they have signed an agreement to sell and distribute National Geographic Partners’ physical adult and children’s books. Already the country’s largest distributor of client publishers, HBG’s new partnership with National Geographic further strengthens its distribution business. The agreement takes effect October 1, 2020 and covers all global trade book markets with some exceptions in certain international territories.
Hachette Book Group’s Vice President of Business Development, Todd McGarity, said, “I have long admired National Geographic’s vibrant publishing program, and have been impressed by their ability to outpace the trade market and grow their book business. As a premier brand, their publishing program fits our strategic vision for distributing a small number of large, innovative publishers, and we couldn’t be more excited to help them expand and thrive.”
“Hachette has consistently published many of the most notable bestselling authors. Their leadership within the industry along with their robust distribution business, make this an exciting partnership and growth opportunity for National Geographic Books. We look forward to a strong future together,” said Senior Vice President and General Manager at National Geographic Partners, Hector Sierra.
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New York—February 6, 2020
Hachette Book Group (HBG) announced today that they have acquired more than 1,000 titles published under Disney Book Group. The catalog includes Newbery, Caldecott, and Geisel award-winners, bestselling series, and backlist titles by children’s literature luminaries, as well as a number of new books releasing in 2020 and beyond. These titles will begin publishing under HBG’s Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (LBYR) division and imprint, effective immediately. Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) will focus on acquiring and developing content that can be leveraged beyond books across multiple platforms and media.
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, “We’re thrilled to be the new home for this extraordinary collection of books. HBG already knows and loves these titles after many years of handling sales and distribution for Disney Book Group’s imprints, and we are proud now to become their publisher. This acquisition is a natural step in HBG’s plans for growth and backlist expansion. I’m looking forward to seeing LBYR turn its creative and collaborative energies and its market expertise to this superb group of children’s book creators.”
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Hachette Audio & Wisdomfeed/Better Listen! Announce Partnership
New York—January 21, 2020
Hachette Audio is pleased to announce a new partnership with WisdomFeed/BetterListen!, a publisher of popular inspirational audio works. Select titles from WisdomFeed’s proprietary content will be made available in both the retail and library markets for the first time ever in collaboration with Hachette Audio.
The new WisdomFeed imprint from BetterListen! represents a partnership with Hachette featuring highly curated, newly released titles, including those from mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn, best-selling author Dr. Bernie Siegel, entrepreneur & founder of Collectible Exchange Brandon Steiner, and the esteemed Jungian analyst Marion Woodman.
BetterListen!’s current list of publications represents some of the best-known names in the fields of Spirituality, Mindfulness, Wellness, and Religion. As the partnership develops, new voices will be added to the WisdomFeed imprint of curated offerings and this preeminent list of authors, to be distributed to the retail and library markets by Hachette Audio.
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Paris—November 7, 2019
Lagardère announced results for Q3 2019 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, “Hachette Book Group’s third quarter revenue was essentially even with last year’s, despite a challenging comparison to 2018, when James Patterson and Bill Clinton’s The President Is Missing was propelling HBG’s sales. Sales were bolstered by the publication of Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, by continued growth in downloadable audio, and by a strong program of adult thrillers. HBG had 55 New York Times bestsellers in Q3 2019 including four titles at #1 – Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, David Baldacci’s One Good Deed, and Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ’69.
The fourth quarter is off to a strong start, with newsworthy books such as Ronan Farrow’s bestseller Catch and Kill and intense anticipation for A Warning by Anonymous, on sale November 19. Our #1 bestsellers so far this quarter include The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer, The 19th Christmas by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, and Shea Serrano’s Movies (and Other Things). We were thrilled at the news that PublicAffairs authors Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, with their new book Good Economics for Hard Times to be published on November 12.
We are looking forward to a strong finish to the year, with rising holiday sales of the bestsellers above, a large and lively slate of conservative political books including Triggered by Donald Trump Jr., and new books from many of our most exciting authors, including James Patterson’s dual laydown Criss Cross and Ali Cross, David Baldacci’s A Minute to Midnight, Holly Black’s The Queen of Nothing, Joel Osteen’s The Power of Favor, and Flea’s memoir Acid for the Children. And we are looking forward to welcoming a new Publisher for Hachette Nashville, Daisy Hutton, who arrives November 11 and will oversee the Christian and conservative publishing programs at FaithWords, Worthy, and Center Street.”
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New York, NY—October 25, 2019
Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group, announced today that Daisy Blackwell Hutton will join Hachette Book Group (HBG) as Vice President and Publisher of the Hachette Nashville division. Hutton will join HBG on November 11 and will be a member of the company’s Executive Management Board.
In her new role, Hutton will lead Hachette Nashville’s publishing programs at its three imprints, FaithWords, Center Street, and Worthy Publishing. She will work with the imprints’ editorial teams on their excellent roster of authors and focus on expanding and deepening that roster, guiding acquisitions and list development for the division. Hutton will be responsible for growing sales and creating marketing strategies that appeal to the Christian, inspirational, and conservative markets and beyond, while identifying new business opportunities and strategic partnerships.
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New York–October 14, 2019
Mary Ann Naples, VP and Publisher of Hachette Books, announced today the launch of a new imprint under the Hachette Books name. Hachette Go will feature exciting and motivating books that will help readers change their lives for the better. Hachette Go will uphold the Hachette Books tradition of publishing meaningful and bold nonfiction voices, and will do so across many categories including health, inspiration, food, psychology, self-help, and work.
Hachette Go will launch officially in March 2020 with a full list of bright and inspiring authors including NBC-TV Today’s Al Roker, FOX-TV The Real’s Loni Love, leading women’s empowerment and business coach Gina DeVee, award-wining Atlantic staff writer Olga Kazhan, beloved cookbook author Pamela Salzman, and many more. Hachette Go’s mission is to publish the boldest voices in the health and self-improvement spaces, and to make positive life change accessible to everyone.
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New York–October 10, 2019
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is dedicated to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources. We are committed to publishing this annual report on our progress toward the goals laid out in our environmental policy. Download the full report here.
Reducing Climate Impacts
We are continuing to optimize wherever possible to reduce our carbon footprint, with an annual reduction goal of 2.5% for the 2017–2020 period. In 2018, HBG’s carbon footprint grew by 5%, due primarily to carbon heavy paper stock needed for several of our 2018 titles. This was offset by carbon improvements in the following areas: significant decreases in business travel and in mailing out of our New York and Boston offices, and improvements in electricity usage in our Boulder location.
Increasing Certified and Recycled Fiber
In 2018, our FSC (Forest Stewardship Certified) fiber usage exceeded 97.6%, stable compared to 2017. Combining FSC and SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative), 100% of HBG’s overall paper usage in 2018 came from certified fiber, exceeding our combined FSC/SFI goal of 95%.
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August 1, 2019
Scam Alert – We have recently become aware that some people are receiving fraudulent messages from a scam artist posing as Hachette HR using a fake email address. The impersonator has been sending fake employment letters using Hachette’s company name and logo to trick people into believing that they are interviewing and hiring job candidates or contracting freelance work on Hachette’s behalf. This is a scam. If you receive any such email, we encourage you to report the phishing attempt to your email provider and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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Paris—July 25, 2019
Lagardère announced results for first half of 2019 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, “HBG’s revenue declined slightly in the first half, but our profits rose, boosted by major fiction releases like Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand—her first #1 bestseller!—and James Patterson’s The 18th Abduction and The Chef, Redemption by David Baldacci, Run Away by Harlan Coben, Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly, and nonfiction bestsellers including Sea Stories by Admiral William McRaven, The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson, and The Matriarch by Susan Page. 68 HBG titles have hit the New York Times bestseller list so far this year, with 9 of them reaching #1. Strong backlist sellers including You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero, Andrew Sean Greer’s Pulitzer Prize winner Less, Circe by Madeline Miller, Admiral McRaven’s Make Your Bed, Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers also contributed strongly.
“Two Orbit science fiction writers recently received coveted honors, with Tade Thompson’s Rosewater winning the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel and NK Jemisin’s How Long Til Black Future Month winning a 2019 Locus Award for best story collection.
“Some of our most exciting publications of the year lie ahead – Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, All The President’s Women by Barry Levine and Monique El-Faizy, James Patterson’s Criss Cross and Ali Cross, Stephen Chbosky’s Imaginary Friend, Brent Weeks’s The Burning White, Donald Trump Jr.’s Triggered, Joyce Meyer’s Your Battles Belong to the Lord, Michael Connelly’s The Night Fire, Julie Andrews’ Home Work, and Radicals, Resistance and Revenge by Judge Jeanine Pirro.”
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New York—June 12, 2019
Mary Ann Naples, VP and Publisher of Hachette Books, announced today the forthcoming publication of This Ends Badly: How Donald Trump Conned America (Hachette Books, 9/17/19) – a riveting account of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough’s friendship-turned-bad with the President, offering revealing insights into Trump’s mind and an indictment of his hostile takeover of the Republican party and American politics. The book will be edited by executive editor Paul Whitlatch, who acquired world rights to the book, which will be available in hardcover, ebook, and an audio edition by Hachette Audio.
As Scarborough and Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski observed Donald Trump’s political rise in 2016, they found themselves uttering the same line to each other: “This ends badly.” But it wasn’t always that way. After first meeting Trump in 2003, Scarborough and Brzezinski found him engaging and generous, if terribly insecure, and frequently invited Trump on Morning Joe.
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Paris—May 7, 2019
Lagardère announced results for First Quarter 2019 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “HBG’s first quarter revenues, on a like for like basis, rose thanks to successful publications for major new titles – Run Away by Harlan Coben, The Cornwalls Are Gone by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois, The Fallen by David Baldacci, The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson, and The Keto Diet by Dr. Josh Axe – as well as popular backlist fiction such as Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple and recent Indies Choice winner Circe by Madeline Miller. Q1 also saw continued growth in downloadable audio, and strong performance from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, which brought out Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s book about refugees, We Are Displaced, and had its fourth Caldecott Medal winner in the past five years, Sophie Blackall’s Hello Lighthouse.
The second quarter has begun with honors for several Little, Brown authors: the Edgar Award for Best Novel for Walter Mosley’s Down the River Unto the Sea, a James Beard Award for Christopher Kimball’sMilk Street: Tuesday Nights, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Beth Macy’s Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America.
In May, we publish several of our most anticipated books of the year – Thomas Harris’s first new thriller in twelve years, Cari Mora, Admiral William McRaven’s Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations, and Jared Diamond’s monumental Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis. We’ll close out the second quarter with major June titles including George Will’s The Conservative Sensibility, Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ’69, Kate Atkinson’s Big Sky, and Unsolved by James Patterson and David Ellis.”
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Paris—March 13, 2019
Last month, Lagardère announced their fourth quarter sales and their full-year revenue for 2018. Today, they followed up with an announcement of their full year 2018 results, a more detailed report that includes operating profit. Highlights are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “HBG’s increased profits in 2018 were the result of superb publishing across our divisions, solid revenue growth, a continued rise in downloadable audio sales, and a strong backlist performance.
2019 has started excitingly, with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers winning an unprecedented fourth Caldecott Medal in five years for Sophie Blackall’s Hello Lighthouse, and with Hachette Audio winning an Audie Award forDreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, narrated by Pyeng Threadgill and Luke Slattery, an inventive production of the young adult novel from Little, Brown Book for Young Readers.
The year will be full of important and bestselling publications, including the recently announced Fall title from Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers, James Patterson’s The 18th Abduction, Admiral William McRaven’s Sea Stories, Harlan Coben’s Run Away, Jared Diamond’s Upheaval, Thomas Harris’s Cari Mora, The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin, David Baldacci’s Redemption, Victoria Osteen’s Exceptional You!, Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower, George Will’s The Conservative Sensibility, Janet Napolitano’s How Safe Are We?, and Big Sky by Kate Atkinson.”
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New York, NY–March 7, 2019
The Audio Publishers Association (APA) announced the winners of The Audie Awards®, a program recognizing distinction in spoken word and audiobooks, at their annual black tie gala this week. Dreamland Burning, written by Jennifer Latham and narrated by Pyeng Threadgill and Luke Slattery, was honored with the distinction of Best Multi-Voiced performance, in a competitive category featuring An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, Any Man by Amber Tamblyn, Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Sadie by Courtney Summers, and There There by Tommy Orange.
Author Jennifer Latham reflected on the honor: “There’s really no way to describe the magic of hearing gifted actors like Pyeng Threadgill and Luke Slattery literally breathe life into your characters, or to overstate the creativity, skill and dedication of Elece Green, Michelle Figueroa, Gabino Reyes and the entire crew at Hachette Audio. I’m grateful to everyone who helped transform Dreamland Burning into an audiobook, humbled that their work earned it a place alongside amazing stories by Tayari Jones, Amber Tamblyn, Courtney Summers, Tommy Orange, and Hans Christian Anderson, and thrilled that the Audio Publishers Association has honored our labor of love with an Audie.”
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Show Creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock collaborate with bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski on middle grade fantasy authored by Kimmy Schmidt
New York, NY—February 19, 2019
Megan Tingley, Executive Vice President and Publisher, and Farrin Jacobs, Vice President, Editorial Director, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, announce the acquisition of The Legends of Greemulax by Kimmy Schmidt with Sarah Mlynowski, set to publish on April 2, 2019. With the publication of The Legends of Greemulax, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers makes available the original middle grade fantasy adventure novel featured in Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. In the hit show, the title character garners fame for penning The Legends of Greemulax, which helps young boys understand sexism. April is Child Abuse Prevention month, and in recognition of this book’s release, NBCUniversal will be making a donation in support of Prevent Child Abuse America. The Legends of Greemulax will simultaneously release in hardcover and ebook.
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt offers a unique brand of humor to viewers while also dealing with tough topics sensitively, and we’re thrilled to give fans another avenue to immerse themselves in Kimmy’s world with The Legends of Greemulax,” said Jacobs. “In her completely delightful debut novel, Kimmy tackles pertinent gender stereotyping concerns for kids with enough adventure, comedy, and heart to make the lesson go down easy for readers of all ages. We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome her to the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers author list.”
“To paraphrase a great commercial, ‘I can’t believe I wrote-uh da whole thing!’” said Schmidt. “I really hope my book reminds everyone that the world is still good, like when your mystery lollipop flavor is raspberry, even though it sometimes feels disappointing and scary, like when your mystery lollipop flavor is banana.”
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New York, NY—February 12, 2019
Reagan Arthur, publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today the acquisition of Unexpected, a memoir from Katie Couric, one of the most celebrated and beloved journalists of our time. Judy Clain, Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown and Company, acquired North America rights from Suzanne Gluck of William Morris Endeavor; publication is slated for spring 2021.
Katie Couric said, “I’ve been privileged to lead an extraordinary life, one that I never anticipated. I’ve experienced so much, both professionally and personally, but have never really had an opportunity to reveal what was going on behind the scenes. I’m excited to share what it was like being at the center of so many historic events and game-changing stories. I’m also ready to talk about the fascinating and sometimes challenging people with whom I’ve worked, the radical transformation of my industry, and the heartbreaking losses I’ve endured. It feels like now is the right time to look back, reflect, and consider what I’ve learned and how those lessons might help others.”
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Paris-February 7, 2018
Lagardère announced fourth quarter and full-year 2018 revenues today. See highlights below:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “HBG’s strong fourth quarter capped another year of solid revenue growth. The final quarter was lively, with #1 bestselling novels from Nicholas Sparks, Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling), and Neil Patrick Harris, newsmaking political hits from Pete Souza and Cory Lewandowski, and backlist powerhouses including Jen Sincero’s You Are a Badass, Madeline Miller’s Circe, and Hugo Award-winner N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. It was especially thrilling to publish the #1 bestselling novel of 2018, Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s The President Is Missing, and this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winner for fiction, Less by Andrew Sean Greer, both of which sold strongly through Q4. And we welcomed the Christian publisher Worthy Books to our Hachette Nashville division.
Once again, we saw significant growth in downloadable audio. And, as always, our distribution clients had major hits including Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown from Abrams and Sherri Duskey Rinker’s Construction Site on Christmas Night from Chronicle.
2019 has started superbly, with Little Brown Books for Young Readers bringing home an unprecedented fourth Caldecott Medal in the past five years, for Sophie Blackall’s Hello Lighthouse. And the year holds a powerful lineup of new books from David Baldacci, Holly Black, Sandra Brown, Harlan Coben, James S.A. Corey, Michael Connelly, Jared Diamond, Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Harris, Elin Hilderbrand, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, James Patterson, and many other important and bestselling writers. It’s going to be an exciting year!”
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Calypso, written and read by David Sedaris, nominated for Audiobook of the Year and in the Humor category
In Pieces, written and read by Sally Field, finalist for Best Autobiography/Memoir and Narration by Author
New York, NY – February 6, 2019
The Audio Publishers Association (APA), the premiere trade organization of audiobooks and spoken word entertainment, announced this week its selections as finalists for The Audie Awards®, a program recognizing distinction in the art form. Finalist titles are selected to recognize achievement in 24 competitive categories. This year’s prestigious awards gala will take place on March 4th in New York City, and will be attended by high-profile authors, narrators, publishers, reviewers, and distinguished judges.
Nominated for Audiobook of the Year as well as in the Humor category, Calypso by David Sedaris is also a GRAMMY® Nominee this year. He commented on the honor earlier this month: “I owe this nomination to Maja Thomas, who has produced my audiobooks from the start, and always makes such wise choices for the music—in this case, Daniel Hart.”
Academy Award-winning actress Sally Field is also nominated in two fields: Narration by the Author and Autobiography/Memoir. “My memoir, In Pieces, has been nominated for an Audie award in two categories which makes me both thrilled and devastated: thrilled to be recognized—honored and proud of my whole Hachette/Grand Central team—and devastated that on March 4th I will be at the Old Vic in London rehearsing a play. I can’t be there but my heart will be.”
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New York, NY—February 5, 2019
Reagan Arthur, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today that Little, Brown has acquired North American publication rights to Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Talking to Strangers. The book is scheduled for publication on September 10, 2019. Gladwell was represented in the negotiation by Tina Bennett of William Morris Endeavor. Little, Brown Vice President and Executive Editor Asya Muchnick will edit the book.
Talking to Strangers is Gladwell’s first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath was published five years ago, and after the launch of his enormously popular podcast, Revisionist History, entering its fourth season later this year. Gladwell’s new book offers an incisive and powerful examination of our interactions with strangers—and why they often go wrong.
How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn’t true?
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2019 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults:
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, read by Stephanie Hsu
Circe by Madeline Miller, read by Perdita Weeks
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, read by Caitlin Kelly
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles, read by Jaqwan J. Kelly
ALSC Notable Children’s Recording:
The Wild Robot Escapes, by Peter Brown and read by Kathleen McInerney
RUSA Listen List for Outstanding Audiobook Narration:
The House of Broken Angels, written and read by Luis Alberto Urrea
New York, NY — February 1, 2019
The American Library Association released a number of influential recommendation lists and accolades at their annual midwinter gathering this past week. Six titles, adult and YA, published by Hachette Audio and based on titles published in hardcover by Little, Brown & Company and Little, Brown for Young Readers, were singled out for various honors.
The Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults List, curated by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), is comprised of titles that “range the gamut from adult nonfiction that appeals to teens, to social justice, fantasy, sci-fi, and realistic fiction.” The committee named four productions released by Hachette Audio to the list: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, read by Stephanie Hsu – “Hsu’s narration is emotionally connected and immersive in this tale of magical realism;” The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, read by Caitlin Kelly – “Kelly narrates the vicious fey with sharp voices and edges, perfect for an otherworldly tale;” Circe by Madeline Miller, read by Perdita Weeks – “Weeks’ narration appropriately lyrical as a narrator of an epic; whilst, her character narrations are befitting their mood, tone, and divine status;” and Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles, read by Jaqwan J. Kelly – “The narration really helps the reader to feel as though they are friends with Marvin and inside his head allowing the reader to ache and grieve right alongside Marvin throughout this audio.”
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Other ALA Award News for Little, Brown Books for Young Readers:
Grace Lin Wins a 2019 Caldecott Honor for Big Mooncake for Little Star
Oge Mora Wins a Caldecott Honor for Thank You, Omu!
Oge Mora Wins the 2019 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for Thank You, Omu!
Ashley Herring Blake Receives an Honor from the Stonewall – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award for Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World
Emily X.R. Pan Receives an Honor from the Asian/Pacific American Library Association Award Committee for The Astonishing Color of After
L.C. Rosen’s Jack of Hearts Appears on the Rainbow Committee’s Top Ten List
New York-January 28, 2019
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, is pleased to share the following accolades announced today at the 2019 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Sophie Blackall has received the 2019 Caldecott Medal for Hello Lighthouse. The Caldecott Medal is bestowed annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the ALA, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Grace Lin has received a 2019 Caldecott Honor for A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Oge Mora has received a 2019 Caldecott Honor for Thank You, Omu! The Caldecott Honors are bestowed to artists whose books are also truly distinguished. Oge Mora has also received the 2019 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for Thank You, Omu! The Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. This award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and illustration. Ashley Herring Blake receives an Honor from the Stonewall ‐ Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award for Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World. The Stonewall Book Awards are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience. Emily X.R. Pan receives an Honor from the Asian/Pacific American Library Association Award Committee for The Astonishing Color of After. The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit. L. C. Rosen’s Jack of Hearts (and other parts) appears on the Rainbow Book Committee’s Top Ten list. The list is a curated bibliography highlighting books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning content, aimed at children and youth from birth to age eighteen.
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Paris-November 8, 2018
Lagardère announced results for third quarter 2018 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch, said, “Hachette Book Group’s third quarter revenues were solidly ahead of 2017, led by The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson, the bestselling novel of 2018 so far. We had dozens of New York Times bestsellers in the quarter—seven of them #1 bestsellers—Including David Sedaris’s Calypso, Sally Field’s In Pieces, James Patterson’s Juror #3 and Texas Ranger, Robert Galbraith’s (aka J. K. Rowling) Lethal White, Sandra Brown’s Tailspin, Neil Patrick Harris’s The Magic Misfits, and Jeanine Pirro’s Liars, Leakers, and Liberals, along with continued strong sales in backlist and downloadable audio. During the quarter, we also completed our acquisition of the Worthy Publishing Group, an exciting expansion of our vibrant Christian publishing program. We’re anticipating an outstanding finish to the year, with major bestsellers including Nicholas Sparks’s Every Breath, James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein’s Max Einstein, Pete Souza’s Shade, Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul, Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci, James Patterson’s Target Alex Cross, Michael Connelly’s Dark Sacred Night, How Long ‘til Black Future Month by three-time Hugo Award winner N. K. Jemisin, and Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand, among many others.”
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New York, NY — October 24, 2018
Reagan Arthur, SVP and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today that Michael Szczerban has been named VP, Editorial Director of a new imprint dedicated to illustrated books. The imprint, yet to be named, will launch in Fall 2019 and will grow to publish 20 to 25 titles a year.
“Since he arrived at Little, Brown, Mike has been a bold and creative presence, acquiring, editing, and producing spectacular, bestselling books across a diverse range of subjects. I’m thrilled to see him expand his reach with this exciting new imprint,” Arthur said.
The mission of the new imprint is to publish distinctive, bestselling illustrated books of the highest quality that entertain, inform, and inspire—while expanding the possibilities of visually-driven nonfiction and connecting readers to their passions.
The authors and creators the imprint will publish bring expertise, vision, and voice to their work. They are artists, entrepreneurs, cooks, photographers, tastemakers, thought leaders, scientists, storytellers, historians, humorists, and more—and they will continue a tradition of excellence in illustrated publishing at Little, Brown.
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New York, NY — October 11, 2018
Hachette UK in association with Hachette Book Group (USA), Hachette Illustré (a division of Hachette Livre in France) and Grupo Anaya (Hachette España) today announces a new agreement with Epic Games to create a Fortnite™ branded publishing program in a deal brokered by IMG.
The Fortnite publishing program will launch this fall with a range of stationery followed by a collection of books including handbooks, yearbooks and much more in 2019. The books will be published by Headline in the UK, Hachette Books and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in the US, Hachette Heroes and Hachette Infantil in Spain and by Hachette Jeunesse and Hachette Heroes in France.
Alex Clarke, Publishing Director of Wildfire Books UK, who led negotiations on behalf of Hachette said: “Everyone is talking about Fortnite! We are delighted that Epic Games has chosen to partner with Hachette to produce a global book publishing program to tie in with this amazing gaming phenomenon. We have a thrilling program of titles planned and are incredibly excited to be part of the Fortnite adventure.”
Fortnite is the action building game from Epic Games that lets you drop into a massive 100-player PVP Battle Royale or team up with friends in a co-op campaign to Save The World against a horde of monsters. Craft and loot in giant worlds where no two games are ever the same. Fortnite Battle Royale is free and available on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, IOS, and Android.
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New York, NY — October 10, 2018
Reagan Arthur, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today the upcoming publication of THE REUNION, by France’s #1 bestselling author, Guillaume Musso. Asya Muchnick, VP, Executive Editor, at Little, Brown & Company, acquired North American Rights, while Federico Andornino, Commissioning Editor at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights; both deals were struck with Musso’s French publisher Calmann-Lévy. The book is slated for publication on July 7, 2019. It will be available in hardcover and eBook, and in an audio edition by Hachette Audio. Calmann-Lévy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (part of the Orion Publishing Group), and Little, Brown & Company are all part of the Hachette Livre worldwide group.
Guillaume Musso has long been France’s #1 bestselling author, and the French edition of THE REUNION has sold over half a million copies since its publication earlier this year. It was the first novel by Musso to be published by Calmann-Lévy. This September, France Télévisions announced that it will broadcast the novel as a six-part miniseries, with Sydney Gallonde attached as producer. Other international broadcasters will be announced soon.
The book—pitched as being in the vein of Joël Dicker’s The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair and Harlan Coben’s Tell No One—is set on the French Riviera and takes place during a high school reunion, as dark secrets and past crimes are revealed.
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New York, NY — October 3, 2018
Grand Central Publishing (GCP) is excited to announce the acquisition of the highly anticipated new novel by Thomas Harris, the international bestselling author of Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. It will be his first standalone thriller since Black Sunday was published in 1975. The book will be published in hardcover and ebook editions on May 21, 2019, and narration for the simultaneous Hachette Audio publication will be performed by Harris himself. The title and cover are to be revealed this Fall.
Ben Sevier, SVP and Publisher of GCP, acquired the world rights, excluding the UK, from Morton Janklow of Janklow & Nesbit Literary Agency. William Heinemann will publish in the United Kingdom, and publishing partners across the globe will be secured in the coming weeks.
Harris said, “I’m very pleased that Grand Central and Heinemann are publishing my new novel.”
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Ben Levi Ross (“Evan Hansen”), Mike Faist (“Connor”), with Mallory Bechtel (“Zoe”) To Read Hachette Audio Production
New York, NY — October 1, 2018
Hachette Audio is pleased to announce the casting of the audiobook edition of Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel; performers from the original and current production of the hit Broadway show will voice the 8-hour production, which will release simultaneous with the hardcover and ebook on October 9, 2018.
Earlier this year, the acquisition of Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, a young adult book by Val Emmich and Broadway show creators Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, was announced by Megan Tingley, Executive Vice President and Publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel will expand upon the story and characters popularized by the six-time Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name. National tour cast-member Ben Levi Ross (“Evan Hansen”), and original Broadway cast member Mike Faist (“Connor”), with current Broadway cast member Mallory Bechtel (“Zoe”) were selected by Levenson, Pasek, and Paul to read the audiobook edition for Hachette Audio.
“It has been deeply rewarding to work with Val and the entire team at Little, Brown to bring this story to life in an entirely new medium,” said Levenson, Pasek and Paul. “Now, to have our collaborators and friends Mike, Ben, and Mallory join the audiobook has really brought the journey full-circle for us.”
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Little, Brown and Company to Publish Goodnight Trump by Erich Origen & Gan Golan in November 2018
New York, NY—August 21, 2018
Reagan Arthur, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today the upcoming publication of GOODNIGHT TRUMP: A Parody, by Erich Origen and Gan Golan. Michael Szczerban, Executive Editor of Little, Brown and Company, acquired World rights from William Clark, of William Clark Associates. The book is slated for publication November 13, 2018.
Parodying the soothing incantations of the perennial children’s classic Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, with illustrations by Clement Hurd, GOODNIGHT TRUMP takes place in the very classy golden bedroom of the White House, where it’s bedtime for the 45th President of the United States. In Origen and Golan’s update to the timeless classic, readers can encourage this very stable genius to bid a gentle goodnight to some of his favorite things, including his stuffed animal (what else but a Playboy bunny), his best friends from Russia, his Twitter feed, and his 12-pack of Diet Coke.
Goodnight Bush, Origen and Golan’s inventive send-off of the Bush administration, became an instant bestseller. Time called it “hilarious, clever, very relevant, remarkably insightful, and thought-provoking,”Salon described it as “ingeniously illustrated and garnished with trenchant social commentary,” and USA Today praised the authors for their “laugh-out-loud yet sophisticated wit.”
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Philadelphia, PA – August 16, 2018
Running Press Book Publishers announced today the development of a new imprint named RP Studio. Launching in Fall 2018, RP Studio will publish unique paper goods that reflect the innovative and joyful spirit of Running Press. Combining thoughtful content, beautiful visuals, and a strong point of view, RP Studio products aim to entertain and inspire while highlighting quality product design.
“RP Studio is the natural next step for Running Press, which has always published irresistible gift titles and format-forward packages across all of our imprints,” says Kristin Kiser, VP/Publisher of Running Press and Black Dog & Leventhal. “Our deep understanding of visual content has led to great success publishing innovative formats in trade, gift, mass, specialty, and international channels. We are thrilled to be able to offer multiple product formats to our creative collaborators and give our publishing team new ways to create intellectual property.”
RP Studio’s inaugural list includes a range of paper goods inspired by best-selling Running Press books and book product, successful licensing partners, and perennial favorites from the Running Press backlist. These product suites include notecards and a flexi-bound journal from the Bob Ross estate, a postcard book and deluxe set of hardcover logbooks based on Tim Federle’s smash hit Tequila Mockingbird, notecards and a set of three notebooks inspired by the Running Press book Practical Magic by Nikki Van De Car, and notecards and a hardcover journal featuring quotes and art from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved classic The Little Prince™.
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New York, NY — August 20, 2018
Orbit Books is thrilled to announce The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin has won the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novel!
N. K. Jemisin makes history as the first author to ever win three back-to-back Hugo Awards. This groundbreaking win also marks the first time each book in a series has won the Best Novel award. Jemisin became the first black writer to win a Hugo Award in the Best Novel category with her win for The Fifth Season in 2016.
The Hugo Awards were presented the weekend of August 18-19 at WorldCon 76 in San Jose, CA.
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Worthy to Join with Hachette’s Nashville Publishing Division
New York, NY — August 13, 2018
Hachette Book Group (HBG) and Worthy Publishing Group announced today HBG’s agreement to acquire the assets of Worthy. When the acquisition is complete, Worthy will join Hachette’s Nashville publishing division, which also includes the FaithWords and Center Street imprints. Until further notice, Worthy’s list will continue to be sold and serviced as it is today.
An established boutique publisher in the Christian market, Worthy publishes high-quality books across a broad spectrum: inspiration, fiction, Bible study, current events, devotion, leadership, biography, and personal growth. Worthy has built a stellar catalog of bestselling inspirational authors, complemented by a strong presence in the gift and children’s markets. This fall, Worthy will publish Gov. Mike Huckabee’s new book, Rare, Medium or Done Well as well as The Dead Sea Chronicles, a new fiction series from Jerry Jenkins, and John Hagee’s Earth’s Last Empire, the follow up to his bestselling Four Blood Moons. Other notable Worthy authors include David Jeremiah, Franklin Graham, Don Colbert, James Robison, Margaret Feinberg, and Les and Leslie Parrot.
HBG will take on Worthy’s entire publishing business, including its adult imprints Worthy Books, Museum of the Bible, Ellie Clare Gifts, and Worthy Inspired, as well as its children’s imprint, WorthyKids/Ideals. Together, Worthy and Hachette Nashville will publish approximately 135 titles annually, along with the combined backlist of both publishers.
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Paris-July 26, 2018
Lagardère announced results for First Half 2018 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “First half revenues and profits grew from 2017, with excellent ongoing backlist performance and strong publishing programs across divisions. Hachette hardcovers have held the #1 slot in both fiction and nonfiction for six consecutive weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list, led by Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s thriller The President Is Missing and David Sedaris’s essay collection Calypso. Hachette Audio continued its steady growth, and our Client Services business had a strong first half. Readers remain intensely interested in politics and we’ve tapped into that with bestsellers including Trump’s America by Newt Gingrich, Russian Roulette by David Corn and Michael Isikoff, and continued sales of Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza. Other first-half bestsellers include The Fallen by David Baldacci, James Patterson’s The 17th Suspect, Jake Tapper’s The Hellfire Club, You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero, Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple, Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, the Pulitzer Prize winner Less by Andrew Sean Greer, and The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown. The steady growth of the Avalon Travel imprint brought it to #1 market share in the category in the first half. We’re looking forward to an extremely strong second half, with major books from Sally Field, James Patterson, Sandra Brown, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling), Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ann Leckie, Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Neil Patrick Harris, Flea, the creators of Dear Evan Hansen, Kate Atkinson, and many others.”
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New York, NY – July 18, 2018
Mauro DiPreta, VP and Publisher of Hachette Books, announced today the forthcoming publication of LET ME FINISH: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics (Hachette Books, 1/29/19), by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Written with Ellis Henican, the book will be edited by Executive Editor Paul Whitlatch, who acquired North American rights in a deal with Mel Berger of William Morris Endeavor, and will be available in hardcover, eBook, and an audio edition by Hachette Audio.
For more than a decade, Chris Christie has been among the nation’s most prominent political figures—a household name, thanks to his canny instincts and in-your-face brand of politics. A 2016 presidential candidate, Christie became one of President Donald Trump’s earliest and loudest supporters—and very nearly became Trump’s vice president—only to find himself unceremoniously booted from the Trump transition after the election.
In LET ME FINISH, Christie will set the record straight about his dismissal—and what really went down in 2016 and 2017—revealing candid and surprising insights into the public and private Trump, drawn from fifteen years of close friendship, as well as Trump’s inner circle and Christie’s own political ascent, by turns triumphant and tumultuous.
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New York, NY – June 29, 2018
The Seventh Star, the laconic, unflinching memoir by Swifty McVay, Detroit-based rapper and member of the legendary hip-hop group D12, will be published by Hachette Audio in original audiobook format on July 10, 2018.
Read by the author himself, listeners will embark on a journey that takes them from Swift’s intense childhood on Detroit’s notorious West 7 Mile, to the highs and lows of fame that he and his peers experienced as D12 rose to national prominence. Fans of hip-hop and rap will listen rapt as McVay pulls back the curtain to describe the familial connection between D12 members, including their initial mixed reaction to a then little-known young rapper named Marshall Mathers III (aka: Eminem).
ButThe Seventh Star is more than a typical music memoir. It’s a story told with raw immediacy, about the significant struggles McVay faced and overcame — including the bleak and brutal deaths of group members Bugz and Proof — as D12 rose through the ranks. Anchoring himself in sobriety and spirituality, McVay continues to challenge himself to this day, as he tells listeners the intimate story of finding his voice and continuing to share his music’s message from America’s heartland.
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New York, NY – June 1, 2018
Hachette Audio, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, is pleased to share the news that PROVENANCE was recognized by the Audio Publishers Association as the best Science Fiction audiobook of the year at the 23rd Annual Audies Gala at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan last night. Published in conjunction with Hachette Audio UK, PROVENANCE released as an audiobook read by Adjoa Andoh in September 2017 to great acclaim.
Author Ann Leckie was present to accept the award, saying “I’m so thrilled! Adjoa Andoh is such an amazing reader and she did such a brilliant job with PROVENANCE. It’s been an honor to have her read my work.” Leckie and Andoh’s excellent audiobook collaboration was previously recognized with an Audie nomination for Ancillary Justice in 2016. In PROVENANCE, they returned to the world of Leckie’s record-breaking Imperial Radch trilogy, which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. PROVENANCE was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel 2018 and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2018, in addition to winning the recognition of an AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award. AudioFile enthused, “Narrator Adjoa Andoh creates a stunning tapestry of characters within the vast galaxy this audiobook spans.”
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New York, NY – May 11, 2018
Reagan Arthur, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today the upcoming publication of Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents, by Pete Souza, the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Obama: An Intimate Portrait. Michael Szczerban, Executive Editor of Little Brown and Company, acquired North American rights from David Black, of David Black Literary Agency. The book is slated for publication October 16, 2018.
When Pete Souza left the White House in 2017, he didn’t know what it meant to “throw shade”—but he started doing it almost immediately on his personal Instagram account, posting his photographs from the Obama years with captions that vividly define the contrast between the Obama White House and President Trump’s administration. Media organizations caught on and couldn’t stop talking about Souza’s posts, with New York magazine calling them “a master class in shade,” CNN describing them as “a silent, social media, shade-throwing protest told in visuals,” and Politico naming him “King of Instagram Shade.” Souza’s following on Instagram has since grown to nearly two million people. He has also become a potent force in American life, offering incisive political criticism alongside powerful reminders of the best our country has to offer.
Shade is a portrait in contrasts, telling the tale of two presidencies through a series of powerful visual juxtapositions—with Souza’s unforgettable images of President Obama delivering new power and meaning when framed by tweets, headlines, quotes, and other material from the first 500 days of the Trump administration. The book responds to fan demand for a book that captures Souza’s voice on Instagram, and will include more than one hundred photographs that did not appear in his previous book. More than a sharp compendium of clapbacks, Shade is a touchstone to an era of greater integrity in our politics. Souza’s work is a stirring reminder of the highest American values we share, giving us the courage to stand up and speak out for what we believe in.
Reagan Arthur said, “We could not be more delighted with the success of Pete Souza’s number one bestseller Obama: An Intimate Portrait—and we’re thrilled to be publishing his new book of extraordinary photographs and commentary just before the midterm elections this year. In addition to throwing shade, this book shines a light on the presidency and on our individual roles as citizens, reminding each of us how much our votes and voices matter.”
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Paris – May 17, 2018
Lagardère announced results for First Quarter 2018 today. Highlights of the company’s financial performance are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “Our good first quarter results came from many places: #1 bestselling books by HBG house authors James Patterson, David Baldacci, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, and Brad Meltzer, from backlist hits like You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero, Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza, and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, and from breakout bestsellers including Michael Isikoff & David Corn’s riveting Russian Roulette, Jennifer Palmieri’s powerful Dear Madam President, Peter Brown’s delightful The Wild Robot Escapes and Vashti Harrison’s inspiring Little Leaders.
“Since Q1’s end we’ve had the spectacular news that Andrew Sean Greer’s brilliant and joyful novel Less was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and that Attica Locke received the Edgar Award for Best Novel for Bluebird, Bluebird. Our biggest book of the year, James Patterson and President Bill Clinton’s thriller The President Is Missing, goes on sale next month, and is certain to be a major publishing event.”
HBG has had 63 New York Times bestsellers so far this year, including 15 #1 bestsellers. Looking ahead at the third quarter, we have exciting new books from Sally Field, Elin Hilderbrand, Sandra Brown, Joyce Meyer, Megan Abbott, Flea, Neil Patrick Harris, and Kate Atkinson, among many others. Recent acquisitions include books from Harlan Coben, Malala Yousafzai, Marie Kondo, Daniel Kahneman, and the team behind Dear Evan Hansen.
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New York, NY – May 11, 2018
Reagan Arthur, publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today the acquisition of Ronan Farrow’s new investigative book Catch and Kill, which will continue his award-winning reporting on sexual misconduct and the machine deployed by powerful men to silence survivors of abuse and threaten reporters chasing those survivors’ stories. With original reporting and stunning revelations,Catch and Kill will tell in full, for the first time, the hidden story of how far private investigators, former spies, high-priced lawyers, and embattled executives went to terrorize, intimidate and silence the women whose stories helped launch an international conversation on sexual misconduct and the abuse of power. Little, Brown acquired World English rights from agent Lynn Nesbit of Janklow & Nesbit, and the book will be edited by Executive Editor Vanessa Mobley.
Publisher Reagan Arthur says, “Ronan Farrow’s wrenching investigative journalism has given voice to sexual abuse survivors and shaken the conscience of our culture. But, despite the enormity of the conversation his reporting helped ignite, some of the most astonishing disclosures about what he uncovered are still to come. We’re very proud to be publishing this important book.”
Catch and Kill comes after Farrow’s year-long investigation into Harvey Weinstein, which resulted in the publication of the first allegations of rape and sexual assault against the Hollywood producer in The New Yorker, as well as Farrow’s subsequent exposés about Weinstein’s attorneys, private investigators, and co-conspirators in the media. Those explosive stories exposed “long-suppressed allegations of coercion, brutality and victim silencing and helped spur a worldwide reckoning about sexual abuse of women,” and were awarded the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for Public Service—the first ever awarded to a magazine—the George Polk Award for National Reporting, and the National Magazine Award for Public Interest. Farrow has since continued his groundbreaking investigative reporting on other prominent figures accused of abuse, including President Donald Trump and the former Attorney General of New York, Eric Schneiderman, who resigned hours after Farrow and Jane Mayer reported on allegations of misconduct against him.
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Show Creators Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul collaborated with acclaimed author Val Emmich
New York, NY – March 19, 2018
Megan Tingley, Executive Vice President and Publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, announces the acquisition of Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, a young adult book by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Val Emmich set to publish on October 9, 2018. Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel will expand upon the story and characters popularized by the six-time Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name. The book was acquired in a highly competitive auction and will be the lead title on Little, Brown Books for Young Readers’ Fall 2018 list. The acquisition for North American rights was made by Farrin Jacobs, Editorial Director, Poppy, with William Morris Endeavor for Steven Levenson and Creative Artists Agency for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Levenson, Pasek, and Paul were represented by Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham LLP. Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel will simultaneously release in hardcover, audio, and ebook.
“Every so often, millions of readers of all ages can be united by a single powerful coming-of-age story. This year, that story will be Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel,” said Tingley. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take an enormously successful entertainment property and translate it into an intimate, portable experience that can reach well beyond Broadway. Dear Evan Hansen is not just a musical, and the novel will not be just a book; Dear Evan Hansen is a movement, and we can’t wait for everyone to join it.”
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Last month, Lagardère announced their fourth quarter sales and their full year revenue for 2017. Today, they followed up with an announcement of their full year 2017 results, a more detailed report that includes operating profit. Highlights are as follows:
At Hachette Book Group:
CEO Michael Pietsch said, “We published some of the bestselling writers in the industry in 2017—James Patterson, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Rick Steves, and Sandra Brown, among many others—and were thrilled with phenomenal sales for Pete Souza’s OBAMA: An Intimate Portrait, which maintains its strong trajectory in 2018. Superb publishing across our imprints delivered bestsellers and prizes, and we made exciting acquisitions all year long. This positive trend continues with Grand Central Publishing’s announcement today that they have acquired five new novels by #1 bestselling author Harlan Coben, a writer we have deeply admired for years, and a thrilling addition to Hachette Book Group’s roster of bestselling authors.”
In 2017, HBG had 167 books on the New York Times bestsellers list, including 34 #1 titles. We also had 144 books hit the USA Today list, 10 of which were #1 bestsellers.
Highlights for 2018 include Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s thriller The President is Missing in June, a memoir from legendary actress Sally Field, In Pieces, in September, and Every Breath, Nicholas Sparks’s first novel in two years, coming in October. And Alexis Okeowo’s debut book A Moonless, Starless Sky recently won the PEN/Open Book Award.
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New York, NY—March 8, 2018
Grand Central Publishing (GCP) is excited to announce the acquisition of 5 new novels by # 1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben. Ben Sevier, SVP and Publisher of GCP, acquired the North American rights from Lisa Erbach Vance of the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency. The first book–Run Away–will be published in hardcover and e-book editions in March 2019.
Run Away is about two parents facing the unthinkable: the all too common nightmare of their beloved daughter’s descent into addiction and her subsequent disappearance, the murder of the girl’s deadbeat boyfriend, and the suspicions of the police that a vengeful father committed the crime. As these powerful forces push in on the couple, they remain focused on the only thing that matters—bringing their daughter home, no matter what the consequences.
Coben said, “It’s a thrill to be reunited with my former long-time editor, Ben Sevier, and I’m looking forward to working with the entire Grand Central Publishing team.”
Sevier, who edited Coben’s ten consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers between 2007 and 2017, said of the acquisition, “I’ve known Harlan Coben for two decades, first as a fan and then as his editor and publisher. I’m delighted to welcome one of the most talented and successful thriller writers on the planet to Grand Central where our team will stop at nothing to help him achieve new levels of success.”
With over 70 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the perennial # 1 New York Times bestselling author of thirty novels including Fool Me Once, Tell No One, Don’t Let Go, the renowned Myron Bolitar series and the Mickey Bolitar series for young adults. His books are published in 43 languages around the globe and he is the first author to win all three prestigious mystery/thriller book awards – Edgar Award, Shamus Award, and Anthony Award.
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New York, NY – March 6, 2018
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Tapas Media are pleased to announce the upcoming release of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, a modern-day adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic Little Women in full-color graphic novel form, to commemorate its 150th anniversary with a new generation of readers.
The themes and plot of the original story remain the heart of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as the beloved March sisters support each other through the seasons while their father serves in the US armed forces. In this modernized retelling, the March family is blended, multiracial and LGBTQ-inclusive, with updates making it resonant to an even wider swath of today’s young readers.
Little, Brown, a division of Hachette Book Group, was the original publisher of Little Women in the US; this 2018 re-envisioning revisits the serialized format popular at the time of original publication, with a modern twist: a serial release as an online graphic novel launching March 7, 2018, a day before International Women’s Day. A new episode will be revealed every week on Tapas’s popular digital comics and novels platform through October, to be followed by a release of paperback & ebook editions in November 2018.
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New York, NY — February 27, 2018
Hachette Audio, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, today exclusively announced via Billboard that it will produce a series of vinyl + digital audio titles in 2018 starting with the release of David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water, which is available today in two limited collector’s editions. The vinyl series will be distributed and product managed by Wax Audio Group, an independent record label that specializes in unique vinyl releases.
According to Anthony Goff, SVP & Publisher of Hachette Audio, “As we’ve all seen recently reported across major media, the dramatic and sustained rise of audiobooks continues, so there is no better time than now to expand our catalog with an audio format that has seen amazing resurgence with a greater dedication of retail space and online merchandising. Though we published our first vinyl record, David Sedaris’s Live For Your Listening Pleasure, in 2010, we’re thrilled to be able to announce a new, more extensive publishing partnership with Wax Audio Group, and a full list of A-list releases planned through 2018.”
“On the business side it’s rare that a new vertical presents itself and even rarer that it is such a collectible and tactile format. Vinyl audiobooks bridge the gap between retail book and record stores but more than anything else, it’s cool and when you have something you’re proud to be a part of — it’s the most rewarding part of any release,” added David Bason of Wax Audio Group.
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New York, NY — February 9, 2018
Grand Central Publishing (GCP) is excited to announce the acquisition of the much-anticipated second novel – IMAGINARY FRIEND – by acclaimed author, screenwriter, and director Stephen Chbosky. IMAGINARY FRIEND will be published in hardcover print, e-book and audio editions in the Fall of 2019. Ben Sevier, Senior Vice President and Publisher of GCP, and Wes Miller, Senior Editor at GCP, acquired North American rights from Eric Simonoff at William Morris Endeavor, with Miller tapped to edit the book. Rights have also been sold to Orion in the UK and to Calmann-Levy in France. Further deals have been made in Germany, Brazil, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Romania, Sweden, and the Netherlands with offers and auctions ongoing in Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
IMAGINARY FRIEND is a wildly ambitious, sweeping work of literary horror that focuses on Kate Reese, a single mother fleeing an abusive relationship by starting over in a new town, with her young son Christopher. Her world begins to unravel after Christopher vanishes into the Mission Street Woods – where fifty years earlier an eerily similar disappearance occurred. When her son emerges six days later unharmed but not unchanged, he brings with him a secret: a voice only he can hear and a warning of the tragedy to come to the real world if he fails to protect it. Soon Kate and Christopher find themselves in the fight of their lives, caught in the middle of a war playing out between good and evil, with their small town as the battle ground.
Of his new novel, Stephen Chbosky said, ““Do you remember when you were a little kid and you would look up into the clouds? Remember how the clouds would look like the shape of a dog or a tree or a face? Well, what if you were a little 7 year old kid now? With a single mom. And no money. And what if you couldn’t help but notice that for the last two weeks, you looked up into the clouds, and it was always THE SAME FACE staring back at you? That is the origin of my story.“
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Lagardère announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2017 today. See highlights below:
At Hachette Book Group: CEO Michael Pietsch said, “We closed out the year strongly, with books that were in high demand for the holidays including Pete Souza’s Obama: An Intimate Portrait, Admiral William McRaven’s Make Your Bed, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush’s Sisters First, and bestselling thrillers from James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Michael Connelly. These and many other remarkable books, plus a full year of Perseus sales, solid backlist performance led by William Paul Young’s The Shack and Jen Sincero’s You Are a Badass, and a strong sell through across our imprints, resulted in good net revenue growth over 2016.”
In 2017, HBG had 167 books on the New York Times bestsellers list, including 34 #1 titles. We also had 144 books hit the USA Today list, 10 of which were #1 bestsellers.
Highlights for 2018 include Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s thriller The President is Missing in June, a memoir from legendary actress Sally Field, In Pieces, in September, and Nicholas Sparks’s first novel in two years, coming in October. Jewell Parker Rhodes’ breathtaking new novel Ghost Boys was just named the #1 Spring Kids Indie Pick. Recent awards include Vashti Harrison’s NAACP Image Award for her beautiful and inspiring picture book, Little Leaders, and Hachette Books has two finalists for PEN Literary Awards – No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers and A Moonless, Starless Sky by Alexis Okeowo.
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New York, NY – February 7, 2018
Eight of the finalists announced by The Audio Publishers Association (APA) as Nominees in the 23rd annual Audies Award® are published by Hachette Audio. The Audies are the premier awards competition in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment; winners will be revealed at awards gala, on May 31, 2018, at the New-York Historical Society in New York City.
Representative of Hachette Audio’s broad offering of quality titles across genre, their nominated audiobooks have been shortlisted in categories as diverse as Short Stories/Collections, Memoir, History, and, notably, in three of the five Science Fiction finalist slots this year. “It seems that each year the sky is the limit as we see an increase in submissions of high quality work. This year’s competition promises to be more exciting than ever as the judges work hard to pick the winners out of such an august field,” says APA President Linda Lee.
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PEN America announced today the finalist for their 2018 PEN Literary Awards.
Congratulations to Hachette Books’ two finalists – Ron Powers and Alexis Okeowo!
The winners of the PEN Literary Awards will be announced at a ceremony on February 20, 2018 in New York City.
Mashable announced the full short list this morning. Please click here to see the full list of finalists in all categories.
New York, NY — December 6, 2017
Grand Central Publishing (GCP) is excited to announce the acquisition of a memoir – IN PIECES – by legendary actor Sally Field. Millicent Bennett, Executive Editor at GCP acquired the North American rights from Molly Friedrich of The Friedrich Agency. IN PIECES will be published in hardcover print, e-book and audio editions in the Fall of 2018.
IN PIECES is an extraordinary memoir by one of the most celebrated, beloved, and enduring actors of our time, Sally Field, whose vivacious, infectious charm captivated a nation beginning with her first role as ‘Gidget’ at the age of seventeen. Field – who has never extensively discussed her private life — has been writing this memoir for more than five years.
Of writing the book, Sally Field said, “IN PIECES is about the little girl that I was, about the teenager who backed into becoming a celebrity, and about the craft that taught me to stand on my feet, a craft that helped me find my way out of a complicated childhood.”
Of the acquisition, Ben Sevier, SVP and Publisher of GCP, said, “In Sally Field’s powerful memoir, her millions of fans will find the intimate, honest, inspiring story of an American icon. Grand Central is honored to be publishing this important book.”
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Paris–November 9, 2017
Lagardère announced financial results for the third quarter today. See highlights below:
At Hachette Book Group: CEO Michael Pietsch said, “Thanks to energetic summer and early fall sales for numerous titles, growing downloadable audio sales, and strong performance from our third-party distribution clients, HBG’s revenues through Q3 are solidly ahead of 2016.” Bestselling books for the period include Michael Connelly’s The Late Show, James Patterson’s The Store and Haunted, Seeing Red by Sandra Brown, The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide by Chris Colfer, Al Franken’s Al Franken: Giant of the Senate, and The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand. Orbit author N.K. Jemisin received a Hugo Award for The Obelisk Gate, the second year in a row she has taken that prize, and Grand Central Publishing has a National Book Award finalist in Fiction, Min Jin Lee’s gorgeous immigration saga Pachinko. Many of HBG lead fall titles are off to fast starts, including Sisters First by Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza, Hacks by Donna Brazile, Michael Connelly’s Two Kinds of Truth, and Joel Osteen’s Blessed in the Darkness; and we have exciting books to close out 2017 from David Baldacci, James Patterson, Neil Patrick Harris, Elin Hilderbrand, Cressida Cowell, and many others. To date this year, 143 HBG titles have hit the New York Times bestsellers list, including 28 #1 bestsellers. HBG has 125 USA Today bestsellers to date, with 9 #1s.
At Hachette Livre: For the first nine months, Hachette Livre delivered revenue of €1.665B, up 1.2% like-for-like over the same period in 2016 (up 1.5 % on a consolidated basis). The difference between these two figures reflects a €27M positive scope impact resulting from the acquisitions of Perseus Books, Brainbow, Bookouture, and IsCool Entertainment, and a €31M negative foreign exchange effect related to the depreciation of the pound sterling. Through September 30, publishing division highlights were Partworks (up 9.3%) and Hachette Book Group (up 2.2%), which offset the anticipated decline at Hachette UK due to unfavorable comparison with the hugely successful Q3 2016 publication of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. In the third quarter, Hachette Livre delivered revenues of €646M, down 2.1% like-for-like and down 4.3% consolidated.
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New York–November 6, 2017
Hachette Book Group announced today that it has entered into an agreement to purchase a successful line of books from Minnesota-based Meadowbrook Press, a publisher known for its high-quality titles in the areas of pregnancy, childcare, and parenting. Going forward, these books will be published by Da Capo Lifelong Books, part of Perseus Books, a Hachette Book Group company.
The purchased backlist to be published by Lifelong comprises approximately 25 titles, including Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, which has sold 1.5 million copies, as well as The Simple Guide to Having a Baby, Discipline with Love and Limits, 100,000+ Baby Names, and the Busy Book series of creative learning activities for children. Going forward, Meadowbrook’s children’s and gift/humor books will be published by Running Press, also part of Perseus Books.
John Radziewicz, Vice President and Publisher of Da Capo, said, “We’ve long admired Meadowbrook’s market-savvy publishing program and authors, and we’re thrilled to welcome these innovative, authoritative, and engaging books to the Lifelong list. They’re a terrific complement to our current offerings in the pregnancy and parenting categories and allow us to expand into new areas within these categories as well.
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New York, NY–October 24, 2017
Mauro DiPreta, VP and Publisher of Hachette Books, announced today that Hachette Books will publish three forthcoming books by New York Times bestselling author and co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mika Brzezinski. World rights were previously acquired by Amanda Murray under the discontinued Weinstein Books imprint for KNOWING YOUR VALUE, now slated for publication in September 2018, with COMEBACK CAREERS and THE MILLENNIAL CHALLENGE—two additional titles in the Know Your Value series—to follow in Spring 2019. Each of the three books will be available in hardcover and eBook, with an audio edition from Hachette Audio.
KNOWING YOUR VALUE will be a fully revised and expanded edition of Brzezinski’s New York Times bestselling book Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth. The book features advice from major female voices such as Sheryl Sandberg, Elizabeth Warren, Valerie Jarrett, Joy Behar, Melody Barnes and others, and will be updated throughout with new statistics, fresh interviews, and thoughtful commentary about the importance of knowing your value in personal relationships.
The book also inspired “Know Your Value,” a nationwide movement founded in 2014 that features a media platform and event series dedicated to empowering women to grow their personal and professional value. After sold-out conferences across the United States, “Know Your Value” returns to New York City for a full-day event on October 30, 2017.
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New York, NY–October 17, 2017
J.P. Leventhal, who founded Black Dog & Leventhal (BD&L) Publishers in 1992, will be leaving his role as Publisher of the imprint, on December 31, 2017. Black Dog & Leventhal is known worldwide for creating a high quality, varied, and inventive program of non-fiction and illustrated books, including bestsellers like The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages, The Louvre: All the Paintings, and current pop culture titles from artists such as Chuck D., The Jackson Brothers, and Mel Brooks. Next year, Black Dog & Leventhal will publish what might be its biggest book ever, the two-volume The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons.
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch says: “J.P. Leventhal has been a force in publishing, an original, and a splendid collaborator. His genius for bringing visual content into books in new ways has brought joy to millions of readers. It has been a pleasure having him and his team become part of HBG, and we look forward to his DNA living on in the imprint he created.”
Leventhal adds: “I am so proud of the many wonderful books we have published over the past twenty-five years, and of the smart, dynamic and dedicated team that built us to be the creative, market-responsive house that we are today. What fun we’ve had.”
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New York, NY–October 12, 2017
Hachette Book Group announced today that effective immediately, it is closing Weinstein Books, a partnership of Hachette’s Perseus Books and the Weinstein Company. Titles currently under the Weinstein Books imprint will be published by the Hachette Books imprint, and the Weinstein Books team will join Hachette Books.
Weinstein Books was founded in 2001 as Miramax Books by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob Weinstein. The imprint was re-formed as Weinstein Books after the 2005 separation of Miramax and Disney. In 2009, Weinstein Books became a joint partnership of the Weinstein Company and Perseus Books Group. Weinstein Books was included in the purchase of The Perseus Books Group in 2016.
Headed by publishing director Georgina Levitt and editorial director Amanda Murray, Weinstein Books has published about 10 books a year in the areas of memoir and biography, fiction, health and wellness, self-help and relationships, popular culture and entertainment and movie tie-ins.
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New York, NY—September 13, 2017
Forever, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing (GCP), has announced that they have acquired the World English language rights for three new novels by #1 New York Times bestseller Jodi Ellen Malpas, author of the THIS MAN and ONE NIGHT romance trilogies.
WITH THIS MAN will be published as a trade paperback original in March 2018, with simultaneous e-book and audio editions. The following as-yet-untitled standalone novels will release in 2019. Orion Books, a division of Hachette UK, will publish the UK editions.
“A new novel from Jodi is always exciting news for readers, but a new This Man novel is an event,” said Beth de Guzman, VP, Digital and Paperback Publisher. “GCP is proud to be her publisher and ecstatic to be continuing our relationship with Jodi.”
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New York, NY – August 9, 2017
Forever, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing (GCP), a division of Hachette Book Group has acquired the world rights from Kevan Lyon of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency to a new trilogy by Jamie McGuire, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beautiful and Maddox Brothers romance series. At GCP, Leah Hultenschmidt, Editorial Director for Forever, acquired world rights and will edit the series.
In North America, the Crash and Burn series will be published as simultaneous trade paperback, e-book, and audio editions with the first book releasing in Fall 2018. A mass-market edition will follow in 2019.
The Crash and Burn trilogy follows the Alpine Hotshots, a diverse group of elite wildfire firefighters who work in the most remote mountains of the U.S., pushed beyond their limits, unafraid to die if not for losing those they love.
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New York, NY – July 13, 2017
Grand Central Life & Style, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, is excited to announce the acquisition of a debut entertaining and cookbook—Life is a Party—by chef and actor David Burtka. Grand Central Life & Style’s Karen Murgolo, VP Editorial Director, and Morgan Hedden, Assistant Editor, acquired world rights from Laura Nolan of Aevitas. The book is tentatively scheduled for publication in the Spring of 2019.
Chef, caterer, and award-winning Broadway and TV actor David Burtka believes that a great party is all about great food and warm hospitality. In his debut book, Life Is a Party, David will share all of his insider knowledge to help readers create amazing and unforgettable parties and gatherings no matter what the occasion. Each chapter, divided by season, will feature delicious and easy to prepare recipes based on comfort food favorites with a fun and inspired twist – from barbecued ribs and funnel cakes to caviar and chive cream puffs and butter-roasted lobster tails. David will suggest endless ways to mix and match these dishes to suit every entertaining possibility, while offering simple-to-stunning decorating tips, countdown to party techniques, and delegating tactics to make every party a success. Life Is a Party will be the go-to book for entertaining at every level with ease and grace.
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New York, NY – July 11, 2017
Mauro DiPreta, publisher of Hachette Books, announced today the acquisition of Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-Ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House, a no-holds barred look at the 2016 Presidential election from former DNC chair and legendary Democratic Party strategist Donna Brazile, in a deal for world rights with Keith Urbahn and Matt Latimer, partners at Javelin, the D.C.-based literary, media and creative agency. Senior Editor Paul Whitlatch acquired and will edit the book, which Hachette Books will publish on November 7, 2017, on the one-year anniversary of the 2016 election. Packed with never-before-reported revelations, Hacks is the first book to take readers inside the inner workings of the 2016 election from one of its central figures.
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New York, NY – July 11, 2017
Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, and the publishers of Hamilton: The Revolution, is excited to announce the acquisition of Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window – a behind-the-scenes look into the multi-award-winning hit musical by the Tony Award winning creative team of Steven Levenson (Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Tony Award for Best Score). Winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Musical, the book will be published on November 21, 2017 in hardcover and ebook. The book will be produced by Melcher Media, creators of other successful Broadway books such as Hamilton: The Revolution, Wicked: The Grimmerie and Rent.
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New York, NY – July 6, 2017
In his first book, How to American, Yang shares his always hilarious and often poignant stories of assimilating into American culture, learning American customs by watching BET RapCity, and figuring out how to date girls who were six inches taller than him—all while dodging his parents’ unrelenting attempts to get him to be a studious, model Asian son. He also writes about his burgeoning acting career, the choices he made, and the compromises he refused to make. Chapters include “How to Thuglife” (what Yang learned about America by watching three hours of rap videos a day) and “How to Hollywood” (making the most of the roles given to him as an Asian-American actor).
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New York, NY – June 16, 2017
Partnership Reflects Commercial Strength of Multi-Platform Storytellers and Launches in Spring 2018 with Phantom Wheel
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a leading trade publisher of children’s books, and The Gotham Group, a leading film production and talent management company, have entered into an agreement to collaboratively develop original IP properties with strong book, film, and entertainment potential, it was announced today by Megan Tingley, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, founder and CEO of The Gotham Group; and Eddie Gamarra, Co-Head of The Gotham Group literary department.
The partnership launches in Spring 2018 with the paperback publication of Phantom Wheel by Tracy Deebs, a fast-paced young adult thriller. The editorial direction of the publishing program will be overseen by Kara Sargent, Editor-in-Chief of Licensing and IP at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Goldsmith-Vein and Gamarra will spearhead The Gotham’s Group’s pursuit of film and television opportunities.
This unique collaboration combines Little, Brown Books for Young Readers’ prowess in publishing bestselling children’s and YA books with The Gotham Group’s reputation for great taste in material, its impressive talent roster and its development and production slate. The partners will conceive, develop, publish, and produce content across a wide array of traditional and evolving entertainment media.
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New York, NY – June 16, 2017
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers announces Jin Xiaojing as the winner of the first Little, Brown Emerging Artist Award. This initiative seeks promising new talent and encourages the development of high-quality picture books that resonate with readers of diverse backgrounds and experiences. The program will provide Xiaojing with a valuable day of mentorship by acclaimed illustrator Jerry Pinkney and children’s book professionals, and a monetary prize.
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New York, NY – June 2, 2017
Audiobooks by Michael Connelly, Cressida Cowell, James Patterson also honored at 2017 Audie Awards
Hachette Audio is proud to announce that four of its audiobooks were named Audie winners by the Audio Publishers Association at the annual gala awards ceremony last night. Hachette Audio had sixteen finalists this year, ranging fourteen diverse categories – including those as varied as Original Work, Romance, Humor, Young Adult, and Fantasy. Hamilton: The Revolution, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter – and read by the authors with Mariska Hargitay – won the highest designation of Audiobook of the Year. Competition in this category included titles by Amy Schumer, Carly Simon, Colson Whitehead, and Shonda Rhimes.
James Patterson’s Cross Justice, read by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Jefferson Mays, was named the best Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the past year. Best Mystery audiobook went to Michael Connelly’s The Crossing, read by Titus Welliver (who also plays the eponymous detective in the television series Bosch).
Cressida Cowell’s How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury was awarded Best Middle Grade listen, adding to the honors this final title in the How To Train Your Dragon series has claimed, which include a Parents’ Choice Gold award and a nod from the National Parenting Product Awards.
“It’s gratifying to see our brilliant and creative audio program once again recognized for cross-category excellence, with winners in both children’s and adult genres, fiction and nonfiction. Congratulations to all involved in bringing our Audies finalists and winners to listeners, and especially to our new Audiobook of the Year, Hamilton: The Revolution,” said Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group.
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