After several months of speculation about the future of Weinstein Books, parent company Weinstein Company said yesterday that it has formed a joint venture with the Perseus Books Group under which Perseus will take over most publishing activities for Weinstein, including distribution which will move to the company December 1. Shortly before Labor Day rumors surfaced that Weinstein Books was being shut down, but publisher Judy Hottensen, while acknowledging that its staff had been cut from five to four and was looking to control expenses, said Weinstein Books was continuing to acquire titles. Hottensen, along with the Weinstein Books team, will remain in its current offices and “will participate in the development of the longer-term plan for the JV,” the press release said.
First new books to come from the venture, which will still be called Weinstein Books, will be titles that had been in the Weinstein Books pipeline including All Things at Once by Mika Brezinski, a Raquel Welch beauty guide and The Overnight Socialite by Bridie Clark. In addition to distributing new titles, Perseus will take over distribution for Weinstein backlist titles as well. Weinstein had been distributed by Hachette.
The decision to partner with Perseus is the latest move by the Weinstein Company to cut costs and focus on its core film business.
