Bookouture, the U.K.-based digital publishing company that had a number of titles hit high on Amazon's Top 20 Kindle E-books List in 2016, has been acquired by Hachette U.K., the latter's CEO, Tim Hely Hutchinson, announced Monday.
“In just four years since it was founded, Bookouture has established itself as an outstandingly successful and innovative e-book publisher," Hutchinson said in a statement. "Its formidable reputation and enormous success in publishing many bestselling e-book authors, including Angela Marsons, Louise Jensen, and Robert Bryndza—whose novel The Girl in the Ice has sold over one million copies—demonstrates that Bookouture probably knows more about selling e-books than any other publisher in the world.... The acquisition of Bookouture is a landmark event for Hachette U.K."
Bookouture, founded in 2012 by former Harlequin U.K. marketing head Oliver Rhodes, will have a special relationship with Little, Brown, which will publish some of Bookouture’s authors in print editions. Rhodes will remain CEO of Bookouture while also serving as digital publisher of Hachette U.K., reporting to Little, Brown and Orion CEO David Shelley, and will also join the Hachette board.
“Seeing Bookouture flourish in the past four years has been an incredible and rare privilege," Rhodes said in a statement. "What is so exciting about taking this next step and becoming part of Hachette U.K. is that it will help us to build on the significant momentum we already have and achieve even greater things for our authors."
Bookouture employs 16 people, all of whom will remain with the company, which will continue to be based in its offices in King’s Cross.
