Bookouture’s commitment to growth and adapting to market trends, vindicates my early impressions of Bookouture back before the 2017 buyout by Hachette UK, as a publisher to watch.

Bookouture achieved significant double-digit sales growth for the second consecutive year in 2024. This milestone was shared during a recent presentation of key achievements and growth plans to agents at Hachette’s Carmelite House, per a report in the UK’s The Bookseller.

Expansion into Print

Historically, only a few Bookouture titles were distributed in print by Little, Brown. Now, with an in-house UK print sales team, approximately 25 to 30 titles annually are distributed with full trade print availability, marking a significant shift for the digital-first publisher.

12th Anniversary Celebration

Celebrating its 12th anniversary this month, Bookouture has been a part of Hachette UK since March 2017.

Bookouture highlighted the success of Freida McFadden’s ‘Housemaid’ trilogy, which has seen translation rights sold in over 40 languages and will be adapted into a film starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried.

Team Expansion in 2025

Looking ahead to January 2025, the team at Bookouture’s SFF imprint Second Sky is set to expand with the addition of a new commissioning editor.

But Bookouture is not just going to rely on the slush-pile to find its new talent. 2025 will finally witness the launch of a paid online training platform for authors, with Ain Chiara in a newly-created (April 2024) role of Head of Bookouture Publishing Academy.

Focus on Digital Commercial Fiction

With a “core focus on digital commercial fiction, using the combined expertise of the Bookouture team, authors, and industry-leading voices,” per the Bookouture press release at the time, this is an acknowledgment that while print is now the next step for many Bookouture titles, there is a clear understanding that digital-first is a core strategy reaching not only digital-first and digital-only consumers, but also identifying texts that warrant the expense of a print run (even if only for POD there are still significant formatting costs) but might not otherwise have been considered a viable risk.

Vibrant Audio Arm

Bookouture also of course has a vibrant audio arm, run since 2020 by Bonnier’s Alba Adriana Proko, so no surprises at all that double-digit growth is becoming a regular feature.

Commitment to Growth and Innovation

This strategic expansion and the emphasis on innovation reflect Bookouture’s commitment to growth and adapting to market trends, vindicating my early impressions of Bookouture back before the 2017 buyout by Hachette UK, as a publisher to watch.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsletter.