Skyhorse Publishing announced on Tuesday that it will decrease the overall number of titles it publishes annually by approximately 25%. As part of the restructuring, the publisher is cutting its workforce by approximately 20%, eliminating 16 full-time positions out of 77, including all four full-time editors who worked exclusively at its children’s imprint, Sky Pony Press. The children’s department was headed by editorial director Alison Weiss.
Launched in 2006 by Tony Lyons, Skyhorse published 1,120 titles in 2017 and has a backlist of more than 6,500 titles. Describing the reorganization, Lyons said in a statement, “These are difficult decisions, but we believe they will allow us to become more nimble, respond to trends, focus more on what our customers want, increase the quality of the books we publish, and create more impactful marketing plans.”
Skyhorse publishes books featuring a wide range of subjects for both adults and young readers. Popular children’s titles released by Sky Pony in recent years include Julian Lennon’s White Feather Flier series, which launched in 2017 with the bestselling picture book Touch the Earth, and continues with Heal the Earth (Apr. 3). The imprint has also drawn from pop culture with its Minecraft titles such as Invasion of the Overworld and Hacks for Minecrafters, and with YA Brooding Hero by Carrie DiRisio, inspired by the author's Twitter parody account.
According to the publisher, the bulk of the Sky Pony titles were acquired by editors from other imprints. Going forward, Skyhorse expects to publish approximately 50 Sky Pony books per year, but will not have any dedicated Sky Pony editors.
