In January, David Shelley took on a new role for Hachette, as CEO of an English-language management structure that united Hachette U.K. and the Hachette Book Group in the U.S. In announcing the new structure, Arnaud Lagardère, CEO of Hachette parent company Lagardère, said the new structure would position the company to be “a global leader” and would unlock new opportunities for growth, and deemed Shelley “the best person to create a strong and unified English-language publishing team.” PW executive editor Andrew Richard Albanese caught up with Shelley in New York earlier this month to talk about how it’s all going.
The obvious place to start is with your new dual U.S., U.K. job, which began in January. Can you tell us a little more about the vision behind the new role?
The thinking behind the move was really to share best practices, and, where there’s exceptional talent on either side, to allow that great talent to flourish and to have an impact in different markets. So, for instance, Carrie Bloxson, who I promoted to be head of culture and DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] across Hachette U.S. and Hachette U.K., is already having a great impact. Another example would be Matt Wright, who heads up distribution services in the U.K. and now in the U.S. as well. So, in both directions, where something exceptional is happening or where someone is doing brilliant work, it gives us a chance to share best practice and to provide an opportunity for people to expand their careers.
And in terms of Hachette’s publishing program?
There’s no sort of mandate about getting world rights, but it is about how we do worldwide publications where we do have shared rights. With online, the market is becoming more global, and I think we’re already seeing some success in being able to coordinate all our marketing assets, our cover treatments, everything like that. One of the first big worldwide English-language acquisitions we made is Ken Follett, who we’re publishing next year. We’re very excited about that. But I’ve been in the publishing business for 25 years, and I know how different the markets are too, so I want to do this with quite a light touch.
Nearly a year in, how is it going?
I am really happy with the progress we’re making, and really happy with some of our amazing publications this year—Elin Hildebrand is just going from strength to strength, and Abby Jimenez has had an extraordinary year. And I come from a crime thriller background, so working with James Patterson has been very exciting.
I think publishing is relatively similar the world over. I think book distribution, to some extent, is a regional activity, but to some extent is also global, so it’s been interesting to see how we can co-ordinate our distribution operations and learn from each other. And I would say the conversations in the U.S. and U.K. offices are similar. The obvious difference is scale. In one of my first weeks in New York, I was talking to our sales director and she was telling me about a book subbing in 400,000 hardcovers. In the U.K., that is the stuff of dreams and miracles, but for the U.S. market, for a large brand author, that’s not out of the ordinary.
There’s been a lot of change at Hachette with new people coming in, and others leaving. I realize there’s not much you can say about specific personnel moves, but can you tell us what’s behind the changes?
I try to approach everything from a consumer perspective. Pretty much everything is done with that in mind. And I think sometimes structures in our business refer back to a trade that was in the past. So, my sole focus is how can we serve readers and be really good partners for our authors. The main way we do that is by maximizing their sales globally and finding as many routes to readers as we possibly can.
So, without going into specifics, almost every change we make is with that in mind. We are operating in a market that’s stable, but some categories—non-fiction for example, particularly in the U.S.—are proving a bit more challenging. So, we’re pivoting in certain ways and investing in new programs, like Orbit and its new horror imprint Run For It, for example, and Forever at GCP [Grand Central Publishing], and expanding the team there.
Rising costs, lagging middle grade sales—the pandemic may be over, but the aftermath is not. Can you talk about some of the post-pandemic challenges the industry is grappling with?
I suppose this is the unsexy face of publishing, the supply chain, the back end. As you say, costs have gone up substantially.
All one can do is learn and try to mitigate those challenges however you can. But they remain, and not just for publishing. We’re not alone here in dealing with these headwinds.
I think the other macro challenge that isn’t spoken about enough in our business is just the amount of time that people are spending on smartphones and devices post-pandemic. And of course, middle grade is about the time kids get their first phones. There’s a real challenge there, but also an opportunity for our industry to talk to consumers and say: Did you know that research shows reading something in printed form helps implant it on your brain better? Did you know that reading novels makes you more empathic? There’s a point to be made about the uptick in smartphone use since 2012, and the increase in mental health challenges, particularly since the pandemic. So, I believe there’s an advocacy opportunity here for our industry, working with bookshops and libraries, to point out the power of books and the benefits of reading.
Sales spiked during the pandemic, but are now coming back down to earth. Do you believe the industry created new readers during the pandemic, or did we just sell more books to established readers?
I think we did create new readers. From the research I’ve seen, a lot of the growth was from existing readers, but there were also people buying books who weren’t before. The interesting thing, perhaps a positive legacy from the pandemic, is the growth of the backlist. I think most readers have never really differentiated between frontlist and backlist, but I think readers during the pandemic realized that there’s this wealth of books out there, which is why we’ve seen backlist sales go up. Sometimes we complain in our industry about how many books there are, but I think that’s a massive strength for us compared to film and TV.
Hachette has been active on the DEI front. Can you talk about the importance of these efforts?
The deep backstory from my point of view is that my first job in publishing was at a small British company called Allison and Busby, which was founded in 1967, and Margaret Busby was the first Black woman in the U.K. to run a publishing house. I didn’t join until 1997, and by then Margaret was a friend of the house rather than running it, but I was tremendously influenced by the list she’d created there and by her more generally. So about eight years ago, we started a program in the U.K. called Changing the Story, which is what we call our DEI mission, and I’ve always felt very strongly about the program. It’s very personal to me. At the beginning of the conversation I mentioned Carrie Bloxson, who I just think is the best of the best, and I was really keen to make the most of her talents in this area in the U.S. as well as the U.K.
All of that said, we know we’re not where we need to be, both in terms of representation in the organization and in books. I believe in hearing unfiltered feedback, and I still hear very raw feedback from staff on both sides of the Atlantic, and it’s clear to me that there’s way more we can and should be doing. It also goes back to what consumers want, too. Our mission is to help everyone discover new worlds of learning, entertainment, ideas, and opportunities. To do that we have to publish for everyone and to do that we have to be representative of everyone in our own office. In that sense, I believe the business case is inextricably linked with the moral, cultural case for DEI.
What’s your take on the state of bookselling?
I’ve been really impressed with the indies, and I’m very supportive of indie booksellers in both the U.S. and U.K. markets. And I’m a big fan of [Barnes & Noble CEO] James Daunt, who I worked with when he was at Waterstones. I feel that Barnes & Noble keeps getting better and better. And I would say the other great surprise coming over to the U.S. is just how big and how vibrant the library market is compared to the U.K., where libraries are very challenged because of funding. Libraries are very well used in the U.S., which is great.
We spoke earlier about how much time people are spending on devices, but TikTok sure seems to be selling a lot of books. What’s your take on BookTok?
TikTok is amazing, and what I love about it is that what is surfacing is what readers genuinely love. When I feel a bit low, one thing I do to cheer myself up is go on BookTok, which is this great, sort of joyful place for books. I know there’s a dark side to it, too, and that it’s not without its challenges. But I do think it’s a positive thing for our industry.
Digital audiobooks are still surging, and of course, there’s AI. What do you think will be the big topics in Frankfurt, besides the deals?
I’d be really surprised if AI isn’t a huge topic, both in terms of what the capabilities are and where publishers feel it shouldn’t be used. At this moment, it’s more about asking the right questions, and obviously different publishers will have different views. But I got into this business because I love books and authors. I grew up above a bookshop. I’m a business person as well—I don’t want to present it any other way—but I got into this business because of my love for books and reading. And personally, I feel that is what our business rests on. So, I think it’s very important to always consider that when we make any decisions about AI.
