MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
June 8 – June 15, 2006 Edition
Market Tip:
Hachette Plans New
Sci Fi Fantasy
Imprint for 2007
NEW YORK, NY/6/5/2006Hachette Book Group USA will launch a new science fiction/fantasy imprint named Orbit in 2007. Tim Holman, publishing director of Little, Brown Book Group, will oversee the new imprint, which will be part of Little Brown. The new unit will produce 40 titles within three years, according to Little Brown Publisher Michael Pietsch.
Holman, currently based in the UK, will move to New York to oversee the new Orbit imprint and its expansion into Australia. The goal is to make Orbit an international brand. Hachette books CEO David Young has been quoted in the media as saying that the new imprint will acquire rights for as large a territory as possible. Though the sci-fi/fantasy market is highly competitive, Hachette apparently plans for Orbit to be the top genre publisher in the world
Hachette Book Group USA (HBG) was created when Hachette Livre, a French publishing company, acquired Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner in 2006 (see the Brief History sidebar below for more details). Hachette Livre is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lagardère, a company that is active on a worldwide basis in the areas of communications and media (books, press, audiovisual and distribution/retailing of cultural products). HBG is comprised of the following publishing divisions: Warner Books, Warner Faith, Centre Street, Little, brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Hachette Book Group Digital Media.
