This week, one of the Big Five publishers, Hachette UK, announced it had acquired Bookoutoure, an independent British ebook publisher founded in 2012. For US readers who may not be familiar with Bookouture, it was founded by ex-Harlequin staff and has focused on a digital-first publishing approach; last year, Publishers Weekly called it Britain’s “hottest digital publisher.”
Since about 90–95 percent of the UK’s ebook market is controlled by Amazon, Amazon is where Bookouture has made itself successful. Bookouture has gone from 81,000 ebooks sold in 2013 to 4.2 million in 2016, as of last October. Meanwhile, Big Five publishers like Hachette have seen their ebook sales decline.
This is a good moment to look to Philip Jones, the Bookseller’s astute chief editor, for some insight. He points out that the major publishers have responded to the ebook “threat” by pricing “ebooks in line with their print equivalents so that the digital format does not gain a competitive advantage” over print. By contrast, Bookouture has followed the pattern of pricing ebooks below print levels and, as Jones notes, has focused on acquiring global brands (authors and books that can sell across many countries).
Bookouture authors current enjoy a 45 percent royalty rate on sales, compared to the 25 percent that Hachette authors receive. But Jones sees advantages for Bookouture authors in the acquisition: they’re becoming Hachette authors—although Bookouture will continue as a digital division—and some will be offered chances to publish in print through the Little, Brown imprint.
Bottom line: Bookouture is gaining the shelter of a massive international conglomerate while providing Hachette with a robust business model in ebooks that it wasn’t developing for itself. We’ll be closely watching author royalties, as it should be intriguing to see how Hachette and Bookouture reconcile this: Do Hachette’s authors suddenly start asking for Bookouture ebook contracts? Good times.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
