Hachette Book Group

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner on March 31, 2006.[1] Its headquarters are located at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[2] Hachette is considered one of the big-six publishing companies, along with Holtzbrinck/Macmillan, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Scholastic, and Simon & Schuster.[3] In one year, HBG publishes approximately 1400+ adult books (including 50-100 digital-only titles), 300 books for young readers, and 450 audio book titles (including both physical and downloadable-only titles). In 2016, the company had 214 books on the New York Times bestseller list, 44 of which reached No. 1.[4]

Hachette Book Group
Parent companyHachette Livre
Predecessor
  • AOL Time Warner Book Group (2002–2006)
  • Time Warner Trade Publishing (1996–2002)
FoundedMarch 31, 2006 (2006-03-31)
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City, United States
Key peopleMichael Pietsch (CEO)
Imprints
  • Grand Central Publishing
  • Little, Brown and Company
  • Hachette Nashville
  • Orbit
  • Perseus Books
  • Hachette Audio
Official websitehachettebookgroup.com

History

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

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

Time Warner was formed in 1989 by the merger of Time and Warner.[8] Publisher Macdonald & Co. was bought in 1992 to become part of the Time Warner Book Group UK, and in 1996 the various branches merged to become Time Warner Trade Publishing, later renamed as AOL Time Warner Book Group.[9] In 2003, Time Warner attempted to sell the Book Group but failed to get high enough bids. In March 2006, Time Warner completed the sale of the Book Group to Lagardère, which placed it under its Hachette Livre book publishing arm.[10] The Warner Books subsidiary was renamed Grand Central Publishing, which launched a more literary imprint, Twelve, under former Random House editor-in-chief Jonathan Karp.[11] On February 5, 2010, Hachette announced that it would adopt an agency pricing model for its e-books.[12]

In April 2012, the United States Department of Justice filed United States v. Apple Inc., naming Apple, Hachette, and four other major publishers as defendants. The suit alleged that they conspired to fix prices for e-books, and weaken Amazon.com's position in the market, in violation of antitrust law.[13] In December 2013, a federal judge approved a settlement of the antitrust claims, in which Hachette and the other publishers paid into a fund that provided credits to customers who had overpaid for books due to the price-fixing.[14]

In June 2013, Hachette announced it would acquire Hyperion Books from Disney Publishing Worldwide.[15][16] In March 2014, Hyperion was renamed Hachette Books with the naming of Crown Archetype editor-in-chief Mauro DiPreta as vice-president and publisher.[17]

In May 2014, Amazon.com announced it was no longer taking pre-orders for Hachette books, stating a breakdown in negotiations over profit-sharing arrangements. According to Hachette, Amazon had also stopped discounting its books, sending prices of Hachette titles in the U.S. to more than twice what they were selling for in the UK.[18] Amazon published a letter in August 2014 asking authors and readers to email Hachette's CEO Michael Pietsch and ask for lower e-book prices. Pietsch reportedly replied to each message he received.[19]

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

In June 2014, the company in conjunction with Ingram Content Group, and Perseus Books Group, announced a three-way deal whereby Hachette would buy Perseus and then sell that company's client services businesses to Ingram. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.[20] The deal was called off in August 2014.[21] In March 2016, HBG announced that it had entered into a binding agreement to purchase the publishing division of The Perseus Books Group. Perseus's distribution business was sold to Ingram in a separate move. The sale was completed in April 2016, and the publishing business joined HBG as the Perseus Books publishing group.[22]

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

In September 2018, Hachette acquired the Christian publisher Worthy Publishing.[23] This was followed by a November reorganization in which Worthy and FaithWords merged its teams under its Hachette Nashville division and Hachette Books was moved under the Perseus Books division, while taking in Da Capo Press staff and imprints. A total of 25 staff were leaving in the move and including vice president and publishers Mauro DiPreta (Hachette Books) and John Radziewicz (Da Capo Press). Basic Books will also take in Seal Press and continue it as an imprint.[24]

In June 2020, Hachette was one of a group of publishers who sued the Internet Archive, arguing that its collection of e-books was denying authors and publishers revenue and accusing the library of "willful mass copyright infringement".[25][26]

Publishing groups and imprints

Hachette Book Group operates a number of publishing brands aimed at different markets, and these brands themselves contain sub-imprints that are used to publish to an even more targeted audience.[16][27]

Grand Central Publishing

An independent publishing division within Hachette. Previously known as Warner Books.

Imprint Market
Grand Central Publishing General market and best-sellers
Forever Romance novels
Forever Yours Digital books
Grand Central Life & Style Lifestyle and wellness
Twelve Literature and nonfiction
Vision Mass market editions

Hachette Audio

Publishing group focused on audiobook adaptations and dramatizations of books published by various imprints within the Hachette group.

Imprint Market
Hachette Audio Flagship imprint
Hachette Audio Powered by Wattpad Adaptations of works originally published on Wattpad.
Hachette Audio Podcasts Original podcasts

Hachette Nashville

Publishing group composed of imprints acquired from Warner Communications and Worthy Publishing. Formerly known as Warner Faith Books.

Imprint Market
Hachette Nashville Christian works
Center Street Conservative and military works
FaithWords Christian inspirational
Worthy Christian best sellers
WorthyKids/Ideals Children's works

Little, Brown and Company

An independent publishing division within Hachette. Founded in 1837. Focused on fiction, non fiction, and "works of lasting significance". Purchased by Time Inc. in 1961, becoming part of Time Life. Sold to Hachette in 2006.

Imprint Market
Little, Brown and Company Fiction and non-fiction
Back Bay Books Trade paperback editions
Mulholland Books Mystery, suspense and speculative fiction
Spark Health and wellness
Voracious Illustrated books
JIMMY Patterson Children's books. Founded by James Patterson.

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Imprint Market
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Picture books and non-fiction for young readers.
LB Kids Novelty and brand tie-ins.
Poppy Fiction for young women.

Orbit Books

A publishing division focused on science fiction, fantasy, and mass market editions. Spun off from Little, Brown in 2006. Not to be confused with Orbis Books.

Imprint Market
Orbit Science fiction and fantasy
Redhook Mass market editions

Perseus Books Group

An independent publishing division within Hachette. Founded in 1996. Acquired by Hachette in 2016.

Imprint name Market
Perseus Books Flagship imprint
Avalon Travel Guidebooks and travel literature
Basic Books Non-fiction
Da Capo Press Pop culture and wellness, under Hachette Books
Hachette Books Non-fiction and general interest. Formerly Hyperion Books
PublicAffairs History, economics and public affairs
Running Press Pop culture, inspirational and adult tie-ins.

Inactive imprints

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

  • Abacus
  • Paperback Library (Called the Warner Paperback Library after acquisition by Warner Communications in 1970. Not acquired by Hachette.[28])
  • Questar Science Fiction
  • Warner Aspect
  • Reagan Arthur Books
  • Jericho Books
  • Business Plus
  • Bulfinch Press (Bulfinch titles are now considered part of Little, Brown & Company.)
  • 5 Spot
  • Weinstein Books: Formerly an imprint of Perseus Books, this publisher was shut down in October 2017 after multiple women accused its founder Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.
  • ipicturebooks (first bought by Time Warner Trade Publishing)[29]
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See also

References
  1. "Company History". Hachette Company. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  2. "FAQs Archived 2011-04-11 at the Wayback Machine." Hachette Book Group. Retrieved on April 17, 2011. "Hachette Book Group Marketing Department 237 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017"
  3. "Who Are "The Big Six"?". Fiction Matters. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  4. "About Us". Hachette Company. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  5. "Science Fiction & Fantasy Publishers: Warner Books". Worlds Without End. icow.com, LLC. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  6. "Copyrights of Golden-Age Comics". Golden-Age Comic book Superheroes & Villains Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. McDowell, Edwin (November 16, 1984). "PUBLISHING: AUTHOR WINS RECOGNITION LATE". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  8. "Power Failure". VANITY FAIR. July 2002. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  9. "New Name for Time Warner Trade Publishing". Publishers Weekly. 2001-10-22. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
  10. "Lagardère to buy Time Warner books". The New York Times. February 6, 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  11. Bosman, Julie (March 26, 2007). "With a New Owner, a Book Publisher Gets a New Name". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  12. Bensinger, Greg; Galante, Joseph (February 5, 2010). "Hachette to Change E-Book Pricing, Joining Macmillan". Business Week. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  13. Mui, Ylan Q. and Hayley Tsukayama (April 11, 2012). "Justice Department sues Apple, publishers over e-book prices". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  14. Molina, Brett (March 25, 2014). "E-book price fixing settlements rolling out". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  15. Lee, Edmund (June 28, 2013). "Hachette Will Acquire Disney's Hyperion Book Publishing Business". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  16. "Disney Sells Hyperion Adult Trade List to Hachette". digitalbookworld. June 28, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  17. "DiPreta Named Publisher of Hachette Books". PublishersWeekly.com. PWxyz, LLC. March 12, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  18. "Customers told by Amazon no pre-order of Hachette books will be available". The US News. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  19. Bishop, Todd. "Hachette CEO replies to Amazon fans: 'These punitive actions are not necessary'". GeekWire. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  20. "Perseus Books Group being acquired by Hachette". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  21. Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (7 August 2014). "Hachette Calls Off Perseus Book Purchase". The Wall Street Journal.
  22. Milliot, Jim (6 March 2016). "Hachette Agrees to Buy Perseus Publishing Business". Publisher's Weekly.
  23. Milliot, Jim (September 17, 2018). "Hachette to Buy Worthy Publishing". PublishersWeekly. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  24. Milliot, Jim (November 13, 2018). "In HBG's Reorg of Nashville Outposts and Flagship Imprint, Publisher DiPreta to Leave". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  25. Harris, Elizabeth A. (June 1, 2020). "Publishers Sue Internet Archive Over Free E-Books". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  26. Text of Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive is available from:  CourtListener 
  27. "Publishing groups - Hachette Book Group". Hachette Book Group company website. 2008. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  28. Courtright, Fred (2020), Personal correspondence
  29. Maughan, Shannon (February 19, 2001). "Time Warner Acquires Ipicturebooks.com". Publishers Weekly. United States: PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
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