Hybrid publisher Wonderwell has shut down its publishing operations, and on February 1 will launch a new imprint, Wonderwell Press, as part of the Greenleaf Book Group. Maggie Langrick, CEO of Wonderwell, will serve as publisher of the new imprint, which will “focus on nonfiction books that help, heal, and inspire,” as per a joint press release, sitting alongside such other licensed imprints as An Inc. Original and Fast Company Press.
Langrick founded Wonderwell in 2013, under the name LifeTree Media, before rebranding as Wonderwell in 2020. The company will continue to exist as a corporate entity independent from the new imprint at Greenleaf, to which it has licensed the Wonderwell brand. Greenleaf will also take over the delivery of Wonderwell’s publishing services and book distribution.
“I am really proud of our editorial excellence, I believe that Wonderwell's focus on prescriptive nonfiction that helps, heals, and inspires really lends the brand distinctiveness and a unique identity in the hybrid publishing space, and I'm delighted that Tanya wants to maintain that vision and focus,” Langrick said. “Although the transition is a little painful, I think the authors who continue to go to the Wonderwell Press imprint will have in some ways a better experience,” citing Greenleaf’s “mature operation with more robust systems.”
Wonderwell has terminated its author contracts, with Greenleaf slated to extend the option to publish with the new imprint to authors with current projects-in-progress at Wonderwell; authors who opt into publishing with Greenleaf will be contracted directly with that company. Langrick added that the new Wonderwell imprint will pick up 11 of Wonderwell's roughly 40 backlist titles for distribution.
Concomitantly with the agreement, Wonderwell has laid off its staff of six. Langrick said that “some Wonderwell employees have been, or will be, offered opportunities to work on our migrating projects in a freelance capacity.” She added: “I'm immensely proud of the team that I built, and they're all stellar, talented professionals with bright futures ahead of them.”
“I have long admired the work that Maggie Langrick has put into building Wonderwell. The stewardship and care evident in all of her books have established Wonderwell as a name synonymous with high-quality content and design,” Tanya Hall, CEO of Greenleaf Book Group, said in a statement. “With our shared vision of best-in-class hybrid publishing, Wonderwell Press is a natural fit with Greenleaf Book Group.”
