It has been tough news lately in the world of publishing. The Macmillan children’s imprint aptly named Imprint will be closing in December, according to authors and early reports from Publishers Lunch.
A representative told PL, “Six positions will be eliminated as of December 1. As a result of this change, we have also decreased the size of our marketing team and three positions have been eliminated as of November 14.”
Sorry for the vague tweets. Still reeling a bit. Imprint authors received an email letting us know Imprint will be closing Dec 1. I do appreciate getting the alert from our publisher vs reading about it in the press like the Disney off load. Hades, was that only in February? https://t.co/MlCdouie3h
— Z (@zlikeinzorro) October 21, 2020
This news follows the announcement that Jimmy Patterson Books, which was a children’s book imprint at Little, Brown and Company, is being restructured to only publish children’s books by its creator, author James Patterson, which was shared by Publishers Weekly. The report also said the imprint would look for “collaborations and partnerships.”
This excellent thread highlights some authors from Imprint you can support in light of this news.
Some imprint authors & books to support in light of this terrible news:
— Mary the Scary (@knoxdiver) October 21, 2020
I am deeply saddened to hear this news because Imprint did great work in bringing in diverse writers into the fold and letting them tell amazing stories. I have been proud to work with and read several books from Imprint over my time here at The Mary Sue, and I wish the best to the staff and authors who are not in a weird limbo trying to figure out what comes next.
James Patterson is already a super popular author who certainly doesn’t need help selling his books, nor his own imprint to do so. Jimmy Patterson Books helped bring some great work to the forefront using his name, and I hope that, as he and the group look for “collaborations and partnerships,” they will be cognizant of the need to bring in more diverse and Own Voice authors.
Support the authors you care about, pre-order their books, and let the companies know that regardless of these changes, you care for and enjoy despite these shakeups. That is going to matter even more now, so if there is a title that you are excited about, show that with a pre-order if you can.
(via Bookstacked, image: Imprint Books)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
