Macmillan, parent company of both the venerable book publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux and the 165-year old Scientific American magazine, is launching a new book imprint that will draw on the editorial and marketing expertise of both publishers to produce titles on science and technology aimed at the broadest possible readership. Thomas LeBien, publisher of FSG's nonfiction Hill & Wang imprint, has been named publisher of the new Scientific American/FSG imprint and Amanda Johnson Moon, previously an editor at Basic Books and Palgrave Macmillan, will join FSG next week as senior editor for acquisitions at the new imprint.
LeBien said the new line of books will offer "authors unique opportunities to reach readers, and will give readers a special opportunity to stay abreast of the most important scientific research and writing." LeBien said the new line will likely publish "a select list of 8-10 books a year," although he emphasized that there is no "fixed date to reach that number." The first books from the imprint should begin appearing no later than fall 2012.
There are no titles in the pipeline as yet and LeBien said the new imprint offers an "opportunity to marry the book publishing expertise of FSG with Scientific American's editors and writers." LeBien said "we'll have access to the way Scientific American thinks through a subject and the ways they work with authors." He expects books to originate from both sides of the imprint and he praised the Scientific American website and the magazine's ability to reach its readers online. "Magazines are ahead of book publishers," he said, "and their expertise online and with apps offers both sides a seamless opportunity to connect with readers."
Johnson has acquired books across a wide range of nonfiction topics including psychology, science and memoir. At Basic, she edited such books as Fixing My Gaze by Susan R. Barry and The Age of Anxiety by Andrea Tone. She has also worked with the She Writes Passion Project, an online effort to support women writers.
