Wendy Grisham, v-p and publisher of Hachette’s Jericho Books imprint, will be leaving the company this week. Rolf Zettersten, senior v-p of Hachette Nashville, which also includes the FaithWords and Center Street imprints, announced Grisham’s departure, but said the Jericho imprint was not being folded--“we are just scaling back.”
A statement from the company read, “All Jericho titles currently under contract will be published over the next two years as planned.” Zettersten told PW he and Hachette Nashville editors would continue to acquire, but at a much slower pace: “We’ve been doing 12-15 titles per year, but that will be reduced, though I can’t give a specific number at this time.” Asked about the reason for the cutbacks, Zettersten said, “We’ve been discussing our business plan and decided to publisher fewer titles across all of our imprints. The retail market has consolidated, so it is time for us to be more prudent with our resources.”
Jericho was launched in fall 2011 and released its first titles in fall 2012.
