HarperCollins has announced that it will be making Harlequin UK (HUK) a division of its U.K. business. In a further change, HC and Harlequin will now be aligning their sales efforts in North America.
With the move in the U.K., HUK will become a publishing division of HCUK and HUK staff will, starting in summer 2015, be working out of the News Building at London Bridge. Tim Cooper will remain managing director of HUK, reporting to HCUK CEO Charlie Redmayne; Cooper will also be joining the HCUK executive committee. The integration is different from HC's efforts in Germany where it rebranded the Harlequin office there HarperCollins Germany with plans to start of German-language publishing program. In the U.K., HC said, Harlequin's publishing efforts will not be changed.
The realignment of Harlequin and HC's sales forces, in North America, will begin on February 1, with all changes set to be enacted by June 30. With the move, Harlequin salespeople will now sell both Harlequin and HC mass market titles to mass merchant accounts, and HC salespeople will sell both HC and Harlequin mass market titles to trade/direct accounts. Hardcover and trade paperback title for both accounts will be sold by the HC salespeople.
Despite the changes, HC said "basic sales operations" will not change. Josh Marwell, president of sales at HC, added: "This new strategy will allow us to leverage the strengths of two terrific, and complementary sales organizations.“
