The acquisition that made the biggest news in the book publishing industry in 2025 was the one that got canceled, when ReaderLink’s proposed purchase of Baker & Taylor in the fall was called off days before it was due to close.

But the year still featured its share of dealmaking, including the purchase of B&T’s distribution arm, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services, by Lakeside Book Company, one of the country’s biggest book manufacturers. BTPS is home to a total of 200 publishers and, while the distributor is being rebranded as a Lakeside company, all BTPS employees have been retained, with Robert Gospodark staying on as VP of operations and Jeff Tegge continuing as VP of client services.

Three of the Big Five publishers made acquisitions in 2025, including Macmillan, who has made relatively few purchases over the years. In the fall, Macmillan purchased the book, e-book, audiobook, and audio original catalogs of the mind-body-spirit publisher Sounds True. The acquired books and e-books will be published under St. Martin’s Essentials and carry that imprint's name while, Sounds True audio content will be published by Macmillan Audio under that name. With the sale, Sounds True is focusing on its online learning, events, and digital media businesses.

Penguin Random House made three acquisitions in the year, though only one company was based in the U.S. Random House Children’s Books acquired Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Cherry Lake Publishing Group, which is the publisher of about 6,000 titles featuring children’s trade, library, and educational works. Another major acquisition was of the U.K.-based Wonderbly. Originally known as Lost My Name, the company specializes in publishing personalized gift books. Since its launch, Wonderbly has sold more than 11 million books in over 140 countries. PRH’s first purchase in the year was made by its Australian subsidiary, which bought one of the country’s best-known independent publishers, Text Publishing.

HarperCollins’s acquisitions were limited to overseas deals, most notably the purchase of the France and Germany–based manga publishing operations of anime-focused entertainment company Crunchyroll. After buying two overseas companies in 2024, Simon & Schuster—whose new owners, KKR, had promised to use acquisitions to grow the company—did not make any purchases in the year. S&S did enter into a joint publishing arrangement with Urano World Publishing Group, one of the biggest independent publishers in Spain and Latin America. Hachette Book Group also did not make any acquisitions in 2025, but it did acquire Sterling Publishing/Union Square in late 2024.

Active independents

Independent publishers of all sizes made deals to add scale to their businesses. One of the country’s largest independent publishers, Andrews McMeel Universal, bought all the titles and IP of Philadelphia-based Quirk Books. With the deal, Quirk became an imprint of Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Quirk founder and publisher Dave Borgenicht was named publisher of the Quirk Books imprint at AMP. AMP expects to publish 20 to 25 titles annually under the Quirk imprint.

Fast-growing Zando made its first acquisition since being launched in 2020 by Molly Stern, buying the respected literary press Tin House. The purchase includes Tin House’s backlist and frontlist of more than 200 titles, as well as the Tin House trademark.

Backed by the $83 million sale in 2024 of its sister company Rowman & Littlefield, Globe Pequot Publishing Group bought four specialized presses in the year: Waterford Press, Square One Publishers, Bower House Books, and Rio Nuevo Publishers.

Among the other indie presses to go the acquisition route was Catapult Books, which bought Portland Ore.–based Hawthorne Books. Under the deal, Catapult acquired Hawthorne’s catalog of about 50 titles and the Hawthorne trademark. Hawthorne will become Catapult’s fourth imprint, joining its flagship imprint as well as Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press. Founder and publisher and executive editor Rhonda Hughes is staying on as contributing editor for Hawthorne Books.

Aethon Books made its second deal in two years, acquiring a majority interest in horror book publisher Wicked House Publishing, which will become an imprint of Aethon operating under the Wicked House banner. In 2024, Aethon bought a majority interest in Vault Comics.

Island Press, the Washington, D.C.–based not-for-profit publisher of books on sustainability and the environment, found a new home with the late 2025 acquisition by Princeton University Press. Beginning in January, Island Press and its more than 1,000 titles will become a PUP imprint.

Seven Stories Press made the first acquisition in its history with the purchase of Columbus, Ohio–based indie Two Dollar Radio. As part of the deal, Two Dollar Radio co-owners became minority shareholders in Seven Stories, with Seven Stories owner Dan Simon seeing the deal as a way to bring more stakeholders into the company.

Ablaze Publishing, founded in 2019 by Rich Young, acquired NBM Publishing in mid-December. The New York-City–based graphic novel publisher founded in 1976, will become an Ablaze imprint and founder Terry Nantier will remain a consultant and packager.

A new company entered the publishing business in September when Civica Media acquired two of the country’s best-known hybrid publishers, Greenleaf Book Group and Amplify Publishing Group. Civica is backed by the private equity firm BlackBern Partners and headed by CEO Laura Albero, whose background includes leading business development for Lezen Holdings, the publishing company anchored by Arcadia Publishing.

Beyond book publishers

Following its 2024 purchase of the independent bookstore Tattered Cover, Barnes & Noble agreed to acquire the 10-store Bay Area chain Books Inc. in a $3.25 million deal. Books Inc. had filed for bankruptcy earlier in the year and as 2025 came to a close the purchase still needed court approval.

Three literary agencies were involved in two deals in 2025. At the beginning of the year, Park & Fine Literary and Media and Brower Literary & Management merged to form Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management. The new agency represents more than 300 authors, with Park & Fine cofounder Celeste Fine and Brower founder Kimberly Brower serving as co-CEOs. And in the spring, David Black sold his eponymous literary agency to Sarah Smith who has been an agent at the David Black Literary Agency for 14 years.

On the digital side, Everand, the online e-book and audiobook subscription service subsidiary of Scribd, acquired Fable, the social reading and book club app