British publisher Pushkin Press has acquired Steerforth Press and sister company
Hanover Publisher Services, which will be merged into Steerforth Press and Services, effective in July. Chip Fleischer, co-founder of Steerforth, remains a senior editor and will be acquiring six to eight new titles per year, as the business continues to invest in Steerforth's nonfiction publishing.
The enhanced Steerforth Press and Services team now includes Zandra Rose as associate manager for marketing and publicity. A new publicist, focusing on campaigns for Steerforth and Pushkin titles publishing in North America, will be appointed shortly.
"We've worked with the Steerforth and HPS team for nearly 10 years, with great success, and our North American sales have continued to increase every year," said Pushkin Press publisher Adam Freudenheim. "It was therefore a natural step to acquire Steerforth and HPS when the opportunity arose. Chip is a terrific editor of nonfiction, and I'm delighted he's agreed to stay on in this capacity to grow and develop the Steerforth list. Pushkin's publishing has gone from strength to strength in recent years, across all our imprints, making it the perfect moment to focus more effort and energy here in this market, particularly on marketing and publicity; and both Pushkin and Steerforth share a longstanding appreciation for independent bookstores and booksellers. I'm hugely excited--as are all my colleagues--about this development and the closer transatlantic collaboration this entails."
Fleischer commented: "The Steerforth and Pushkin teams have worked together for almost a decade. From the standpoint of a strategic business partnership, the mix of assets, relationships, expertise, and editorial programs could not be a more perfect fit. On a personal note, I'm eager to realize my dream of concentrating my time and attention on acquiring and editing manuscripts; it's the work that brings me the most joy and where I feel I add the most value. My colleagues, the partners with whom I co-founded Steerforth, and I are thrilled that Adam Freudenheim is now Steerforth's new publisher, and we look forward to the next 30 years."
As Steerforth Press and Services, the team will continue to work with Archipelago Books and Campfire Graphic Novels as distribution clients with Penguin Random House Publisher Services.