It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to sit down with key players at a major publishing house. But that’s just what the Westfair Business Journal did Friday, Dec. 13, when we participated in a breakfast roundtable with six women executives from Hachette Book Group (HBG) that took place at the Kelly Center for Health Sciences on Iona University’s Bronxville campus.
The participants were Jackie Engel, vice president and deputy publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and a Pelham resident; Gabrielle Gambrell, senior vice president, chief communications officer and a White Plains resident; Chrissy Heleine, senior vice president, deputy group sales director and a Mamaroneck resident; Sally Kim, president and publisher of Little, Brown and Co. and a Harrison resident; Leigh Marchant, chief marketing officer and a Mamaroneck resident; and Megan Tingley, president and publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and a Larchmont resident.
The six are not only “proud working mothers” who juggle everything from deadlines to pediatric appointments but executives committed to Hachette’s multiplatform approach to readers – be it artfully designed hardcovers, mass market paperbacks, e-books, downloadable audio (DLA), special events or a TikTok “store,” along with outreach to influencers and the underserved younger generation.
“We meet you where you are,” said Gambrell, an Iona alumna and board member who was the catalyst for the meeting.
The house of James Patterson and ‘Twilight’ and…
Part of Hachette Livre, the world’s third largest trade and educational publisher, Hachette Book Group is one of publishing’s “big five,” the others being HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. An American general-interest publisher, HBG sells more than “6,000 new books a year,” Gambrell added. “This number includes our 3,000-plus print titles, close to 2,000 e-books and almost 700 DLA titles, plus our international editions, calendars and even wrapping paper.” The dozens of imprints include Basic Books Group, Grand Central Publishing Group, Hachette Audio, Orbit, Workman Running Press Group and the aforementioned Little, Brown. In all English-language markets, Hachette U.S. and UK sell some 220 million books a year across print, e-books and audio.
Among the brand’s best-selling authors are David Baldacci, an attorney specializing in legal thrillers and suspense novels; Colleen Hoover, whose books span romance, psychological thrillers and young adult (YA) fiction; Stephanie Meyer, author of the vampire romance series “Twilight”; and Briarcliff Manor’s James Patterson, whose third thriller teaming with former President (and Chappaqua resident) Bill Clinton, “The First Gentleman,” will be co-published by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown on June 2.
“ ‘The First Gentleman’ is a story that only James Patterson and President Clinton can tell,” Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK CEO David Shelley has said of a scenario that finds the title character on trial for murder. “I’m immensely proud to help bring it to the world, and I know it’s going to have readers across the world on the edges of their seats.”
Authors like Patterson help Hachette thrive at a time when the publishing industry remains challenged by a virtual, visual world. Deputy group sales director Chrissy Heleine, who came to the company from Penguin Random House, described its performance as “steady and stable.” (CEO Shelley has said it is “remarkably resilient.”)
There are headwinds, however. Even before Donald J. Trump’s reelection as president of the United States, some companies had begun to retrench from their DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives that are designed to advance women and minorities. Not so Hachette.
CEO Shelley, who is openly gay, remains committed to DEI’s mission in the Hachette workplace and among its readers, Gambrell said. Earlier this month, Carrie Bloxson, the company’s senior vice president of culture and diversity, equity and inclusion for the U.S. and UK offices, was promoted to chief human resources officer and will continue in both roles. In October, National Hispanic Heritage Month, Hachette took part in the Inaugural Latinx Kidlit Book Festival Storytellers Conference, Gambrell added.
Diversity in its workforce and authorship – the lack of which has been a criticism of the publishing industry – is not about political correctness for Hachette but good business sense.
“Our mission is to reach more readers, and that means more diverse readers,” said Sally Kim, who as president and publisher of Little, Brown and Co. and a first-generation Korean American is the first Asian American woman to lead a major book publisher, one whose imprints include Algonquin Books; Back Bay Books; Little, Brown; Little, Brown Spark; Mulholland Books; and Voracious. “It’s our superpower.”
Raising young readers
This means connecting with readers in diverse ways. Since November, Hachette has been selling books on TikTok (https://vt.tiktok.com/ZTYCgkXBf/?page=TikTokShop is the mobile link), said CMO Marchant, who is philosophical about a potential U.S. TikTok ban: “There’s been that concern for a while, but we know that building community and discovery on social media is now a primary driver of book sales. Readers love to discuss and share, particularly books. So while one platform may go away, we know there will continue to be other opportunities – either existing or new – to help us get books into the minds and hands of readers.”
The company also stages events at venues that are off the beaten path, touring “The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community” by Ibtihaj Muhammad – the first Muslim American woman in hijab, a head covering, to compete for the U.S. in the Olympics – and S.K. Ali to sold-out fencing academies and mosques, said Jackie Engel, vice president and deputy publisher of Little, Brown for Young Readers.
The young demographic remains a challenge as there has been a decline in pleasure reading among children, said Little, Brown for Young Readers President and Publisher Megan Tingley, who brought Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” saga to readers’ attention. Figures from the National Endowment for the Arts show a decline in fun reading by kids from 53% in 2012 to 39% in 2022. To address this, Hachette will launch next year its Raising Readers initiative, in which participating authors, illustrators and translators of adult books will encourage their readers to foster reading among the young, with tips on how to do it.
In a letter to Hachette authors, Shelley wrote that the company will also “be stepping up our partnership with literacy charities in all our geographies; continuing to legally oppose attempted book bans in the U.S. and elsewhere; and to support the creation of school libraries everywhere.”
Being women in a ‘woman’s world’
The women we spoke with on lucky Friday the 13th have a lifetime of experience encouraging readers at work and at home. Publishing is seen as a female-centered industry. Women read more books than men do. (The average reader is female, 25 to 50, with at least a college degree and a higher income than nonreaders.) Women are slightly more than half of the world’s authors.
But the roundtable pushed back on the demographics somewhat, citing a strong male readership for authors like Patterson, Baldacci and Michael Connelly (“The Lincoln Lawyer”). And Deputy Group Sales Director Chrissy Heleine said there has been “a generational shift,” with Gen Z and Gen Alpha (20s and younger) showing a keen interest in reading – which can include anything from listening to an audio book to picking up a graphic novel or a book that is as much a visual object — as romance and romantasy (romance with fantasy elements) continue to explode in the marketplace.
Women are also more than half of the publishing workplace, though all the CEOs of the big five are men, CMO Leigh Marchant said. (“There have been female CEOs in the past,” Gambrell said in a follow-up. “Other publishers outside of the big five do have women CEOs. And for context, Penguin Random House’s previous CEO was a woman.”) As with other industries, remote working, spurred by the pandemic, has helped these women navigate multiple roles. But you’re also working off and on 24/7, said Little, Brown and Co. President and Publisher Sally Kim.
For her and her colleagues, however, it’s not just about the hours, sales and even best sellers, as some best sellers will be balanced by passion projects that don’t bring in as many buyers. It’s mainly about publishing books that move readers, making them laugh perhaps on a day when they need a good laugh, said Meghan Tingley, Little, Brown for Young Readers president and publisher.
“And that,” she added, “goes on forever.”
