The Publisher You Know Isn’t the One Abroad

 

Now this could be detrimental to my career and anyone from HR searching me, but let’s be honest, despite needing range, some authors just hit differently, and that’s how you find yourself in a committed relationship with…….

Don’t blink, you won’t want to miss this.

My Spine Habit

Recently on my LinkedIn, I briefly mentioned that I have started subconsciously checking the spines of books while browsing, almost as a way to gauge whether they are a reliable purchase. You can find the full post here, but in short, I realized that a significant portion of my bookshelf is made up of Hachette titles, particularly from the Little Brown division, while publishers like Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, and Simon & pales in comparison. That made me wonder how much of this self-reflection would travel beyond my own collection.

Here’s the deal: an author isn’t always with the same publisher in every territory, and I’m here to break it down.

Territorial Publishing: Different Publishers, Different Countries

Let’s take Ali Hazelwood as an example. In the USA, her work is published by Berkley Books, a division of Penguin Random House. In the UK, however, her releases are distributed by Sphere, an imprint of Little, Brown, Hachette. The obvious question is why, but a more intriguing one might be whether we can really say that we choose publishers. Lately, it is starting to feel like they choose us. How much of this is truly in our hands?

My whole brand is consumerism. If I see a book and the spine says One More Chapter, I will most likely give it a chance. But I’d rather save my precious pounds and spend them on a book stamped Hodder & Stoughton. If a book has Mills & Boon on the spine, which is a romance imprint by Harper Collins, I probably won’t lean towards it. Piatkus, on the other hand, and I’ll snap it up immediately. Now, Avon—I’m not totally against it. The first book that got me into this world was Hook, Line & Sinker by Tessa Bailey, a Harper Collins Avon release, so I do trust it. But I approach with caution, especially since I’ve fallen off Tessa Bailey’s reads recently. The last one I read was Fangirl Down. So, to say that, out of all the books published by Harper Collins, I’ve read one author from one specific division—that says something, doesn’t it?

Imprints and Divisions: Why They Matter

The division within a publishing house also makes a difference by setting the tone. An author published under Hachette Little, Brown, for example, with the imprint Hodder & Stoughton, speaks to that particular book in a different way than they would under John Murray Press or Headline. But before we get into the obvious differences, it’s worth looking at the imprints within a division like Little, Brown.

Lucy Score wrote the bestselling Knockemout series, now set for an Amazon adaptation, and it was published under Hodder & Stoughton, an imprint of Little, Brown. Ana Huang, on the other hand, is published under Piatkus, another imprint of the same division. The reason comes down to the focus of each imprint: Hodder & Stoughton is broader, catering to adult contemporary, thrillers, and general fiction, which is why Lucy Score’s thriller series fits there.

Sphere and Piatkus, while similar, have slight differences. Sphere focuses on contemporary commercial fiction, blending romance, women’s fiction, and popular fiction, while Piatkus specializes in romance and women’s fiction, often high-heat or category-style romance. That’s why authors like Elsie Silver and Ana Huang are with Piatkus, while Ali Hazelwood is with Sphere.

So again, the question arises: how much control do we really have over the publishers we read from? Lately, it feels like less than we might think.

Marketing, Publicity, and Consumer Influence

Of course, there are reasons behind this apparent chaos; it’s not just random. One of the main factors is publicity and marketing. Using different imprints within a division like Little, Brown allows publishers to target specific campaigns, social media strategies, and bookstore placements, helping to avoid confusion between genres.

Publishers abroad are often more familiar with local media, bookstores, and influencers, so having separate imprints makes it easier to reach the intended audience. This also extends to cover design in certain markets, like Germany, where small changes in colour, font, or overall design are made because different countries respond to visual cues differently. While these may seem like minor adjustments, their long-term impact is significant. Once again, the question arises: who really controls our reading habits? 

Literary Agents: Behind the Scenes

The next point I want to touch on is literary agents. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, being from the UK, I tend to read a lot of books from Hachette Little Brown. But how much of that is influenced by literary agents? Many of the romance authors I read are represented by specific agents who focus on shopping their authors around and securing the best deals. As a result, it often turns out that most of these authors are published under Hachette Little Brown, whether through Sphere, Hodder and Stoughton, or Piatkus, the latter seeming the most popular, at least in my experience.

The relationship between agents and publishers really matters, so let us explore my previous point a little further. Agents are the ones who build professional, trusted relationships with editors and publishers, which is exactly why they are so important, she says smugly. This has a real impact. Take Kimberly Brower as an example. If she has had strong success with an editor within the Little Brown division or one of its imprints through strong sales, good collaborations, and reliable delivery, it inevitably makes that editor more open to future submissions from her agency. So, if the question is whether an agent’s track record can influence which publishers are more likely to acquire future books, including those of the same agent’s clients, the answer is yes. Absolutely yes.

Trust and taste go hand in hand. Editors become familiar with the types of stories an agent represents, usually within a consistent genre, and that familiarity helps build trust through submissions. Sales history also plays a role; if an agent’s previous books have sold well, publishers are more likely to take on similar projects. And then there is the essential bane of everyone’s life: networking. Publishing is fundamentally a relationship-driven industry, which is why agents are so important. The right agent with the right connections can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. I’ve mentioned examples before, such as Elsie Silver and Ana Huang. To be clear, this is not about favouritism; it is simply that a strong, established professional relationship combined with proven success is incredibly valuable to publishers. They eat it right up.

I’m excited to see how Somme Sketcher’s success will be guided, managed, and executed. She recently came under the management of Kimberly Brower, and it will be interesting to see where this new chapter takes her.

Retailers and Independent Publishers

Then there are the retailers, the stores where books are actually sold, such as Waterstones, WHSmith (now T G Jones), and, shockingly, The Works. As a consumer, I will still seek out and purchase special editions from these stores, but in my humble opinion, that is not where those editions should be housed. Beyond the major publishing houses in the USA, there are also independent brands, like Sourcebooks, and many romance titles are published under imprints such as Bloom Books, which focus specifically on niche markets. I often feel we overlook these external players, yet they are an important part of the larger publishing landscape.

Brand Identity and Rights

It also has a lot to do with brand identity. Sorry guys, it’s not just all about us. I made this point in my blog post about literary agents, which you can find here. I mentioned how choosing the right agent is important because they help set the tone of your brand, and part of that includes deciding which publisher you are ultimately sold under. Of course, I’m sure that many times, when stories are shopped around, initial offers come from the intended companies or from others entirely. I’m no literary agent myself, but I imagine that plays a role as well.

I’m doing a post on rights and publishing next, so I won’t dive too deeply here, but briefly, when we talk about territorial rights, we mean the rights to sell and distribute a book in specific regions. These rights are sold to different publishing houses in different countries. It does not happen in every case; many authors are published by the same publisher in multiple regions. Essentially, it is a decision made for you, determining which publisher can sell and distribute the book, and this is usually negotiated by the author through their agent if they have one.

On the other hand, it is debatable how much choice we truly have. For example, some argue that personal taste drives purchases because publishers provide options, and therefore consumers are not forced into particular choices. The market is more diverse than ever, supporting the idea that individuals have the freedom to select what aligns with their interests. There is also the art of discovery, which reduces passive consumption and allows for more deliberate selection. Finally, guidance exists, but we still have the power to ignore it. All of these points are valid, and I am not dismissing them. My argument is simply that many aspects of the system remain beyond our control, and the most powerful influences are often not in our hands.

Conclusion: Readers Hold the Power

Where does that leave us? I, for one, believe that it is ultimately in the reader’s hands whether an author achieves strong sales, media coverage, or a best-selling title, regardless of which publisher takes them on. Many indie authors are not represented by traditional publishers and still sell out like hotcakes. Once the book is written, the author’s efforts are largely complete. My final thought on this matter is this: as explored throughout this blog, publishers influence the influencers and shape consumer choices through publicity, marketing, branding, and imprint specialization. This creates the illusion of choice, when in reality readers are being guided—or more gently directed—toward certain titles. In essence, we are putty in their hands.

The best part? There is no right or wrong answer. This is simply a dissection of the information and patterns I have been observing, first as a consumer and later as a publishing analyst. I want to work in the publicity and subrights space and I am eager to collaborate with all the teams necessary to achieve my goals, as this is something I will inevitably encounter throughout my career. I aim to understand every facet of publishing. Having any knowledge in this area is valuable. Anything to do with triangles, however, is a different story, since no one has ever asked me the difference between an equilateral, isosceles, and scalene.

And finally……

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic, so please feel free to share your comments in the section below.

Keep your eyes peeled for my next blog, which will focus on rights in publishing and also explore where I hope to position myself within the industry.

In the meantime, explore the rest of my posts here on Paper Chapters, read my latest book review on Paper Pages.Pr, visit my LinkedIn for short but impactful posts about the publishing industry, and check out my Instagram to see my work in action. Links to all of these can be found on my Let’s Connect page.

Seen you between the pages.

Vivian.