Tim Holman has been promoted to president and publisher of Hachette Book Group's Orbit division. Holman was previously SVP and publisher. In his new role, he will continue to report to HBG CEO David Shelley.
Holman launched Orbit, HBG's SFF imprint, in 2007. He was appointed VP and publisher in 2008, when Orbit and graphic novel and manga imprint Yen Press were combined to create a new publishing division. He joined the HBG executive management board in 2009.
Prior to joining HBG in 2006, Holman ran Orbit in the U.K., where it is an imprint of the Little, Brown Book Group. Holman joined Orbit in the U.K. in 1992 as an editorial assistant, rising to the position of editorial director in 1997 and publisher in 2008. He continued to oversee Orbit in the U.K. until 2020.
Among the authors Orbit has published: Joe Abercrombie, Iain M. Banks, James S.A. Corey, Rachel Gillig, Alix E. Harrow, N.K. Jemisin, Ann Leckie, Kim Stanley Robinson, Andrzej Sapkowski, Brent Weeks, and Hannah Whitten.
In 2013, Orbit launched its second imprint, Red Hook, aimed at general fiction readers, and last year launched the imprint Orbit Works, publishing SSFF with a focus on ebook and digital audio formats, and Gold Editions, a program of D2C exclusive deluxe hardcover editions.
“I’m so pleased to recognize Tim’s success and contribution to HBG with this promotion," said Shelley in a statement. "Under his leadership, Orbit is having its most successful period ever, which follows two successive record-breaking years—this performance is nothing short of phenomenal. The fact that Tim and his team built the division at HBG from the ground up makes the financial and critical successes all the more impressive."
Holman's promotion comes amid an ongoing restructure at HBG, which was merged with its U.K.-based counterpart Hachette UK under Shelley late last year. Last month, the company laid off a number of sales staffers as well as editorial staff at Little, Brown. And earlier this month, HBG announced a host of other changes, including new editorial hires, and promotions, but also layoffs at Workman, moving Algonquin Books to Little, Brown, and discontinuing the Algonquin Young Readers, Hachette Books, and Hachette Go imprints.
