The Time Warner Book Group is launching a new imprint built around the values and sensibilities of heartland America. Set to debut in January, Center Street is the first new imprint for TWBG since its launch of Warner Faith in 2001. Maureen Egen, president and COO of the publisher, told PW that the time was ripe for such a venture. "We're always looking for opportunities to grow, and it became apparent to us that this was an underserved market," she said.
Egen noted that many booksellers report a growing demand for titles written from a values-based perspective that is not necessarily a religious one. "We're convinced the market is receptive to a program based on wholesome lifestyle titles," she added. Center Street will publish books with an emphasis on self-help, motivation, health and fitness, fiction and regional interest.
Another motivation for launching the imprint was that Warner Faith authors had expressed a desire for more mainstream exposure. "Our authors need another place where they are comfortable, where their voice can be heard and their view respected," Egen said. The demographic that Time Warner hopes to reach through Center Street includes listeners of country and western music, NASCAR fans and residents of the South and Midwest regions of the nation.
The imprint is slated to debut with a list of half a dozen titles for the spring catalogue and expand to about 12 titles for the fall season. Plans call for the titles to appear across all channels of distribution. The first title will be Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons by relational psychologist Neil Clark Warren, who is the founder of the online dating service eHarmony. Other authors include bestselling evangelical Christian novelist Karen Kingsbury and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Also featured on the publisher's upcoming lists will be backlist titles from business author John Maxwell, including Today Matters and Thinking for a Change, which were originally published by Warner Faith and Warner Business Books, respectively.
Center Street will be based in Nashville, Tenn., and share offices with Warner Faith. Rolf Zettersten, publisher of Warner Faith, also will serve as publisher for Center Street. Two editorial positions are being created for the new imprint, which Egen said will have TWBG's full support.
