Company History
Hachette Book Group USA was created when Hachette Livre, a global publishing company based in France, acquired Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner in 2006. Hachette Livre is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lagardère, a company that is active worldwide in the areas of communications and media (books, press, audiovisual and distribution/retailing of cultural products).
HBGUSA’s long history dates back to 1837 and it continues to evolve and grow today.
1837
Little, Brown and Company is founded.
1968
Time Inc. acquires Little, Brown & Co.
1970
Warner Communications acquires the Paperback Library and launches Warner Books.
1992
Little, Brown and Company acquires Macdonald & Co., renames it Little, Brown and Company (UK), and later Time Warner Book Group UK.
1996
Little, Brown and Company and Warner Books merge to become Time Warner Trade Publishing, later to be renamed Time Warner Book Group (TWBG).
2001
Warner Faith, a Christian/inspirational imprint, is launched.
2004
Center Street, a heartland-focused imprint, is launched.
2005
5 Spot, an imprint of Warner Books publishing chick-lit that is smart, fun, and filled with attitude, is launched.
LB Kids, an imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, is launched.
2006
TWBG is acquired by Hachette Livre and renamed Hachette Book Group USA. Warner Faith is renamed FaithWords. Time Warner Audio Books is renamed Hachette Audio.
Warner Wellness, an imprint of Warner Books focused on the healing and improvement of mind, body, and spirit, is launched.
Springboard Press, a baby boomer generation targeted imprint, is launched.
2007
Warner Books is renamed Grand Central Publishing. Warner Wellness is renamed Wellness Central. Warner Business Books is renamed Business Plus.
Yen Press, a graphic novel and manga imprint, is launched.
Orbit, a science fiction and fantasy imprint, is launched.
TWELVE, a new imprint of GCP, is launched.
Poppy, an imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and home to the Gossip Girl an other teen fiction series, is launched.
HBG has four main office locations:
New York, NY: Our headquarters and main publishing office houses administrative services, advertising & promotion, art, contracts, digital media, editorial, executive administration, finance, human resources, information technology, international sales, inventory control and operations, legal, managing editorial, manufacturing & production, online marketing, publicity, sales & marketing, special markets, and subsidiary rights.
Boston, MA: Our back office, where the operations side of the business is based, provides core services to HBGUSA offices as well as our distribution clients. These services include fulfillment (customer service, order processing), inventory management, finance, credit and collection, and IT operations, in addition to the company’s copyediting department.
Lebanon, IN: Our state-of-the-art distribution & returns centers process approximately 6,000 orders per day, and ship approximately 400,000 books per day (with capacity for one million). The facility opened in 1996 with 500,000 square feet of space, and since that time, the complex has grown to over 1,000,000 square feet and moves over 100 million books annually.
Nashville, TN: Our office in the heartland is home base for our FaithWords and Center Street imprints.
Additionally, our field sales reps are located in different parts of the country and serve our independent bookstores, regional book chains, and independent book wholesalers.