Greenleaf Book Group and Amplify Publishing Group, two of the oldest and most well-known US-based hybrid publishers, have been acquired by a new private equity–backed firm called Civica Media. The leaders of the acquired companies, Tanya Hall (Greenleaf) and Naren Aryal (Amplify), will stay on.
Because of my history working at a publisher that was bought and sold by private equity firms until it went bankrupt, I remain wary. I’m also reminded of how Author Solutions—one of the least reputable names in the business—was formed: through a series of acquisitions that ultimately ended up managed by private equity. However, it’s not fair to judge Civica in advance. The leaders of Greenleaf and Amplify will presumably keep the brands visible and associated with integrity. What happens when they depart is another matter.
Josh Bernoff, who works with many authors who use hybrid publishers, wrote (emphasis mine), “In my view this [deal] will catalyze big shifts in the business book market, empowering authors, threatening traditional publishers, and creating huge challenges for the too-pricey Forbes Books and smaller hybrids. If you’re currently working with either Amplify or Greenleaf, don’t expect much to change, except that both companies will now have access to more efficient production, marketing, and distribution resources.” While I don’t believe traditional publishing is threatened, smaller hybrids and operations like Author Solutions might be.
What is Civica Media? So far, it is a company of one, led by CEO Laura Albero and backed by BlackBern Partners. (Learn more in Publishers Weekly.) Its website consists of a single page explaining its purpose as a “modern book publishing company that combines editorial excellence with a data-driven approach to deliver a superior author experience through faster time to market, enhanced marketing, and best-in-class distribution.”
It continues, “Civica is actively pursuing acquisitions and partnerships that will add scale and capabilities in traditional, niche, and hybrid publishing. Civica’s scale allows the company to further increase its investment in the people, technology, and shared services that strengthen its speed to market and enhance its author value proposition.”
When Stable Book Group was formed earlier this year—consisting of various publishers, both traditional and hybrid—similar motivations were cited as far as economies of scale and stronger marketing and distribution. And just a few months ago, hybrid publisher Forefront joined with Histria Books to form the Unified Publishing Group.
I’m currently working on an article about hybrid publishers to be published later this fall and hope to provide bigger-picture context and discussion.
Reader feedback
The CEO of Greenleaf, Tanya Hall, wrote me in response: “I totally understand your wariness regarding private equity. For what it’s worth, this is actually Greenleaf’s third private equity transaction. Each time it sells, there’s of course a dance between Greenleaf’s leadership and the buyer in terms of fit.… From my end, I’m looking for confirmation that the PE group sees the value in our company (which is our authors, our people, and our brand), and that they’ll leave me to run the business as I have been for so long now. We’ve been fortunate to have ownership groups who are indeed on board with that and who know better than to ‘fix’ something that isn’t broken. I trust Civica in the same way, and it’s business as usual for us. We’ll continue running Greenleaf with our usual high standards, integrity, and commitment to stewarding our authors’ books with the highest level of care.”
In the near future, barring any breaking news, I’ll be taking a closer look at what’s been happening in the hybrid publishing space.
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.
