Hachette Launches SF Imprint



Orbit is the name of the new science fiction and fantasy imprint to be started by Hachette Book Group USA next year. Tim Holman, publishing director of Little, Brown Book Group's Orbit imprint in the U.K., will move to New York to oversee the launch while continuing to direct the U.K. unit and head the expansion of Orbit in Australia. Hachette USA plans to build a list of 40 titles within three years. "We want to have a significant program really fast," said LB publisher Michael Pietsch.

Joint Norton, Workman Sales Unit

Norton and Workman have created a three-person field sales force that will sell both independent publishers' titles in the Southeast. Michael Levatino, Gail Whitten and Bill Verner will begin by selling the publishers' fall list.

Taschen to Open N.Y.C. Store

Art book publisher Taschen will open a store in New York City's SoHo section in September. This is the third retail venture for the international publisher; Taschen opened stores in Paris in 2001 and in Beverly Hills in 2003. The New York store will be 1,700 square feet and will feature mostly Taschen books; about 20% of the inventory will come from other publishers.

Layoffs at CPM

Citing lingering economic effects from the Musicland bankruptcy, anime distributor and manga publishing house Central Park Media laid off an undetermined number of staff last week, prompting rumors about the future of the company. CPM director John O'Donnell confirmed the layoffs, but declined to comment on the possibility of bankruptcy. He said CPM has been "significantly impacted by Musicland's bankruptcy" and the company has been forced to make "immediate cuts in payroll and costs."

HM Gets Behind 'Chew'

After several groups with ties to the fast food industry attacked Houghton Mifflin's children's title Chew on This—a May adaptation of the house's 2001 bestseller Fast Food Nation—the house and authors Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson are fighting back. According to HM, the book inspired a "smear campaign." To fight statements like those that appeared on the Heartland Institute's Web site—likening the authors' tactics to the Nazis—HM has hired an outside PR firm to keep the media aware that its authors are being personally attacked, not their words.

Correction:

The June on-sale calendar (PW, May 8) listed The Girl of Lost Things by Ann Brashares; the book has been postponed until 2007; it will have a new title.