Hachette’s new commercial fiction imprint, Redhook, will be making its BEA debut this year, with four debut novels and a much talked about new marketing philosophy.
“Our goal for Redhook,” says publisher Tim Holman, “is to publish great books we’re passionate about, and to make every one of them stand out. We’ll be publishing a wide range of fiction, in different genres, but every book will have one thing in common: it will be written by an author we believe has genuine bestseller potential. And because we want every book to get the attention it deserves, we’ll be publishing only one author every month.” By concentrating on a single title each month, Holman believes the imprint will be able to “craft very focused marketing and publicity campaigns.”
Redhook’s initial title, out in April, was Robert Lyndon’s Hawk Quest, an epic historical novel set in Norman England. It proved an auspicious beginning for the new imprint, with Library Journal and Booklist each giving it a starred review. “Hawk Quest,” says Holman, “is epic in every sense. It might not be the easiest book to pick up [it’s 672 pages], but it’s impossible to put down.” Gavin Extence’s The Universe Versus Alex Woods (June) is a quirky coming-of-age story about a young boy hit on the head by a meteor, marking him for an extraordinary future. “It made one of our sales directors laugh and cry on his way to work,” reports Holman, “and in the U.K., it’s been selected for ‘Waterstones 11,’ the most promising fiction debuts of the year.”
Saskia Sarginson’s The Twins (Aug.) is described by Holman as “an emotionally charged story about two sisters whose lives have followed very different paths.” September’s title, Eloise, is written by the well-known U.K. television host, Judy Finnigan, whose Richard and Judy’s Book Club creates instant bestsellers much as Oprah’s Book Club does in the U.S. It’s the story of a woman who sees her dead friend’s ghost and is convinced her friend has a message to send back to the living.
In the spirit of Redhook’s one book per month strategy, each day at the Hachette booth (1929, 1828) will highlight a different Redhook title. Today the giveaway is ARCs of The Twins. On Friday, attendees can pick up digital galleys of Eloise, and on Saturday, ARCs of The Universe Versus Alex Woods.
