Hachette Book Group on Monday confirmed a realignment that included layoffs at Workman Publishing, as well as several promotions and other changes—including moving Algonquin Books into Little, Brown, reporting to president and publisher Sally Kim, and Algonquin Young Readers into Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, under president and publisher Megan Tingley.

In the case of Workman, the workforce reductions come after the expiration of a three-year term during which Hachette agreed to keep all Workman employees as a condition of its $240 million purchase agreement for the company, executed in August 2021.

“We were not legally allowed to make these changes three years ago when would be normal in a company acquisition, so the business plan from that time was for us to make them in summer 2024, at the conclusion of the three-year term, which is what we are doing now,” a Hachette rep explained.

Hachette declined to say how many workers would be laid off in total, stressing that new positions—including “fiction-focused positions in the Grand Central and Forever” imprints—would be added or posted in the coming weeks. Reps said that the changes in its Workman and Grand Central Publishing programs were designed to promote “key team members” and to add “extra roles” in “areas where the market is strong” while "cutting back in areas where the market has weakened.”

Algonquin, which had developed into a well-respected publisher of literary bestsellers such as Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, was part of the Workman acquisition. Workman first acquired Algonquin in 1988. A Hachette rep said Kim will work with the Algonquin group to "determine the future shape" of the imprint.

While the future of the Alqonquin brand on the adult side remains unclear, Hachette reps confirmed to PW that the Algonquin Young Readers imprint will be discontinued. In a social media post, AYR editorial director Cheryl Klein said the imprint will be closing at the end of September. Klein added that she will be staying on as editorial director for the Workman Kids trade list, and that AYR’s “backlist and all books under contract will be absorbed into the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers list.” Klein also confirmed that editor Sarah Alpert, assistant editor Adah Li, and marketing manager Shaelyn McDaniel will be leaving the company.

Algonquin Young Readers was launched in 2011 under former HarperCollins associate publisher Elise Howard, who quickly built an award-winning program that included such titles as the 2017 Newbery Medal—winning The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Hachette also acquired the imprint in its Workman deal in 2021. Howard retired in 2022, succeeded by Stacy Lellos, who has now been promoted to SVP at Workman Kids.

In addition, Hachette reps confirmed that imprints Hachette Books and Hachette Go have also been dissolved, with titles under contract to be distributed among other as yet unspecified imprints at Grand Central. Social media posts suggest that as many as 11 people have been laid off in those moves, including publisher Mary Ann Naples. It's a surprisingly quick end for Hachette Go after just five years: the imprint was announced in October 2019, with a focus on health, inspiration, food, psychology, self-help, and work.

Among other promotions and changes announced this week:

Susan Weinberg, EVP and publisher of the Workman Publishing Group since 2022, will retire from her role at the end of this year, and will take on a new part-time role "to help people to deepen their financial understanding of the business."

Kristin Kiser, SVP and publisher of the Running Press Group, will become president and publisher of a new division called the Workman Running Press Group, effective January 1, 2025. Shannon Fabricant has been promoted to publisher of Running Press, where she will run the adult, kids, and studio publishing programs. And Betsy Hulsebosch has been promoted to VP and deputy publisher of Running Press.

Lia Ronnen has been promoted to SVP and publisher of Workman, Artisan, and Black Dog & Leventhal, with BD&L moving from Running Press to Workman, and the Calendar group moving to Workman.

Colin Dickerman has been promoted to SVP and editor-in-chief of Grand Central, adding fiction responsibility to his existing nonfiction role. Karen Kosztolnyik is now VP and executive editorial director for fiction, reporting to Dickerman.

While the Workman reorganization was delayed due to a condition of its purchase agreement, the restructuring is the latest in a number of changes since the Hachette Book Group and its U.K.-based counterpart, Hachette UK, were merged in a new English-language management structure under CEO David Shelley late last year.

In February, Shelley hired Sally Kim away from G.P. Putnam's Sons to replace Bruce Nichols as president and publisher of Little, Brown. Prior to Kim's arrival, LB editor-in-chief Judy Clain left for Simon & Schuster to relaunch Summit Books.

In June, the makeover of the Little, Brown editorial department continued, with LB VP and deputy publisher Craig Young and VP and executive editor Tracy Sherrod among those let go, as well as senior editors Jean Garnett, Ben George, and Pronoy Sarkar.

Just a few weeks earlier, HBG began revamping its sales department, an effort that has eliminated some positions, including two VP roles, and reenvisioned other positions. The sales reorganization follows last fall’s appointment of Lauren Monaco as EVP and group sales director, succeeding the retiring Alison Lazarus.

Little, Brown has also recently added three new editors. Liese Mayer, most recently editorial director of fiction at Bloomsbury U.S. joined the company as executive editor on May 6; Gabriella Mongelli, most recently at Park Row Books, began as a senior editor on July 8, and Bryn Clark, most recently executive editor at Flatiron Books (and editorial director of Melissa French Gates’s Moment of Lift Books imprint), will join Little, Brown on September 3.

Furthermore, one of Hachette's most admired executives, Reagan Arthur, will return in September as senior VP and publisher of an as-yet-unnamed boutique imprint at the Grand Central Publishing Group. Arthur left HBG in 2020 to take over for the late Sonny Mehta at Knopf but was let go by the publisher in a reorganization this spring.

This story has been updated.