Disney Publishing Worldwide will raise the curtain on a new imprint next year, to coincide with the January 2016 re-branding of the Disney-owned cable TV channel, ABC Family, as Freeform. The imprint, also named Freeform, will focus on young-adult and crossover fiction and nonfiction aimed at readers ages 14 to 34, and will publish original book properties as well as material that can span formats—from books to television—and tie in with existing TV programming.
Emily Thomas Meehan, DPW editor-in-chief and associate publisher, heads up the new imprint with the strategy of creating new intellectual property with both bestselling and developing authors, while collaborating closely with partners at the Freeform channel.
Among the first offerings from the new imprint will be Two Truths and a Lie, written by Melissa de la Cruz (whose Blue Bloods and Descendants series are published by Disney-Hyperion) and Margaret Stohl, who authored Little, Brown’s Beautiful Creatures and Dangerous Creatures series with Kami Garcia. De la Cruz and Stohl’s collaboration from Freeform presents a mystery that unravels over three novels. Also due from Freeform in 2016 are digital and print titles tied to ongoing TV programming.
Given its name and genesis, the Freeform imprint signals an inventive and adaptable list of titles to come. “The innovation is in the collaboration and development opportunity we have with Freeform,” Meehan said. “We will be original and innovative with our approach, and will have an ability to be nimble and quick to market without risking discoverability.”
