Esther Margolis, who joined HarperCollins when her indie house Newmarket Press was acquired by the Big Five publisher two years ago, is launching a new venture. Margolis will be leaving HarperCollins this month and will start a new company that will "agent, package, and consult on fiction and nonfiction books, publishing, marketing and cross-media strategies, especially in the film and entertainment area."

Margolis, an industry veteran, founded Newmarket in 1981 and established a niche publishing titles about theater and film. In particular, Newmarket was known for its official movie tie-in editions. When HC acquired Newmarket, and its 300-title backlist, Margolis was brought on as an executive editor of Newmarket Books at the house's existing It Books imprint.

With the move, Margolis will regain control of her old company name and logo in fall 2014, after her forthcoming titles at HC have been released; her last day at HC will be February 14. After the 14th, Margolis can be reached at esther@esthermargolis.com.