Identify, support and promote talent to teach, enlighten and entertain.
Hachette Livre brings together over 200 imprints across the globe. They operate in a wide range of editorial genres for both trade and educational markets. The Group publishes 15,000 new titles per year on average, in a dozen languages – mainly French, English and Spanish. The Group’s publishers operate independently to constantly renew creativity.
Since it was founded in 1826, Hachette Livre’s mission has always been to publish, sell and distribute innovative, quality books that quench readers’ thirst for knowledge, enlightenment and entertainment. Our imprints publish in all editorial segments and formats for the trade and educational markets: fiction and non-fiction, textbooks and other educational materials, children’s and YA literature, comics, manga, how-to, travel guides and coffee table books.
Publishers painstakingly sift through the many manuscripts and agent pitches (in Anglo-Saxon markets) that they receive. Publishers identify, support and promote talented writers. They help to bring books into being by combining the writer’s expertise with that of illustrators, photographers, archivists and voice actors in the case of audio books.
Collectively Hachette Livre imprints have more than 155,000 backlist titles available in digital format on all ebook sales platforms. Most new titles are also published in digital format in France, the UK and the US. They are sold as both ebooks and downloadable audio books. In 2023 digital audio books and ebooks accounted respectively for 4.5% and 7.8% of Hachette Livre’s total sales.
In 2015, to strengthen the role innovation plays in its growth strategy, Hachette Livre launched the Hachette Innovation Program (HIP), which became the Business Development and Innovation Department in 2021. The Department aims to identify new growth opportunities – both organic and external – and research investments that could be relevant to the Group’s development. It also provides support for the imprints’ development and diversification plans. In 2022, to nurture the Group’s culture of innovation and experimentation, the Department launched the first Innovation Challenge open to employees all over the world.
Digital technologies have diversified reading and learning practices. It has also opened new avenues of expression to authors and illustrators. Hachette Livre was one of the first publishing groups to begin using social media and online creative platforms to spot new talents. Our publishers scout potential writers on Wattpad, TikTok and Instagram. Countless books have been born of this strategy.
Hachette Livre uses the possibilities created by digital technologies to enhance the tools and resources available to pupils and teachers in primary and secondary schools as well as in higher education. The Group supports evolving teaching practices via a range of innovative initiatives gathered under the umbrella of the e-Education Department as well as a partnership with Educapital and the acquisition of key players like Livrescolaire.fr.
Hachette Livre is constantly expanding the content it makes available to people who are prevented from reading or who encounter obstacles to reading. A fervent believer in interoperability, Hachette Livre is involved in defining and updating open standards for technology.
Our publishers enjoy total editorial independence while benefitting from the Group’s support at all stages in the book lifecycle (manufacturing, distribution, sales and beyond). A shared vision and a concerted effort in the fields of innovation and CSR bring them all together.
Hachette Livre is the unrivalled book market leader in France, in almost every editorial segment. The Group comprises prestigious imprints in fiction, non-fiction, paperbacks, comics, manga, how-to, textbooks and other educational materials, guide books, dictionaries, humanities and science.
The adult divisions at Hachette UK are Orion Publishing Group, Little, Brown Book Group, John Murray Press, Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, Bookouture, and Octopus. Hachette Children’s Group publishes a wide range of books for children of all ages, and Hachette Learning is a leader in the teaching resources market. Hachette UK diversified its business with the acquisition of Paperblanks, the global number two in premium stationery. Hachette UK is the market leader in the ebook segment, and has subsidiaries in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and India.
HBG is a leading trade publishing group in the United States. Its 43 imprints publish around 2,100 books a year in the adult segment as well as 500 children’s and YA books and 700 audio book titles. They also maintain an extensive ebook catalogue. HBG is made up of eight editorial divisions: Little, Brown and Company, Grand Central Publishing, Perseus Books, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hachette Nashville, Orbit, Workman Publishing and Hachette Audio.
Joining Hachette Livre in 2004. Today it comprises about over 31 publishing houses and brings out around 1,700 new titles per year. Anaya includes well reputed imprints such as Alianza, publisher of twenty Nobel prices, Cátedra and Larousse together with new editorial projects that cater for new genres that are specially relevant for readers, such as Contraluz and Faeris or Kitaeru.
Business growth for the educative division is being fostered by the launch of new services such as Henko and Tiimi that create value added to both teachers and families
Hachette España, is present in LatAm with offices in Colombia and México, where it is also a leading educational publisher with its Larousse and Patria imprints.
In these countries the Group has either developed partnerships with solidly established national players or founded new publishing houses.
“Mon Espace Auteur”: accessible, everyday support
This portal provides authors with 24/7 access to resources that make their lives easier, such as real-time sales figures for their books. Hachette Livre and its publishers are committed to providing digital tools and services for their authors to ensure total transparency. “Mon Espace Auteur” is fully in line with that goal. It is yet another tool our publishers can use to build close partnerships with their authors.
Hachette Pro: a professional platform for booksellers
To provide a high-performance service for bookshops and their teams, Hachette Livre designed a professional website suited to the frequently changing industry. Hachette Pro embodies Hachette Livre’s attitude toward professional booksellers, who play a crucial role in promoting its books and building authors’ reputations. It reflects the Group’s commitment to providing them with the best possible support since they are on the front lines with readers.
Tools and resources to support teachers
Benchmark publisher Hachette Education works with authors to help teachers save time by creating tools for their pupils and customizable teaching resources which can be accessed online or downloaded (resource banks, teacher’s manuals, print and digital textbooks, interactive exercises and more).
