Kensington Publishing Corp. has acquired Erewhon Books, an independent publisher dedicated to literary speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, for an undisclosed price.
Erewhon Books will continue to be led by publisher Sarah Guan, a two-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Editor, who joins Kensington with four members of the Erewhon team, including Martin Cahill, publicity and marketing manager. The purchase includes about 12 backlist titles and another 10 unpublished works. Beginning fall 2023, Erewhon will release 12 new hardcover titles within its first year.
Since it was founded in 2018, Erewhon has published what it calls “hard-to-define books” by an array of diverse and marginalized authors, including H. A. Clarke, Angela Mi Young Hur, Victor Manibo, and Kay Chronister, to more established authors, including C. L. Polk, E. Lily Yu, Benjamin Rosenbaum, and Cassandra Khaw.
Steve Zacharius, Kensington president and CEO, said he was impressed by Erewhon’s ability to build authors’ careers, something that meshes with Kensington’s own ethos. “We are excited to amplify Erewhon’s considerable strengths while advancing their vision for thoughtful, effortlessly strange literary speculative fiction,” Zacharius said.
Current distribution and fulfillment agreements for Erewhon Books will remain in place until January 1, 2023, when the imprint will move to Kensington’s distributor, Penguin Random House Publisher Services.
Book Advisors LLC brokered the transaction for Erewhon Books.
