Lara Heimert is retiring as president & publisher of Hachette's Basic Books Group, effective June 5. She will be succeeded by Brian J. Distelberg, who is currently the group's v-p & associate publisher.
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| Lara Heimert | |
Hachette Book Group CEO David Shelley thanked Heimert for "21 years of incredible publishing. She leaves us a legacy of books that are foremost in their fields, and she also leaves us after a record-breaking 2025 for the Basic Books Group: heartening both for us as a company and for everyone who cares about the market for quality non-fiction publishing."
He called Distelberg "a thoughtful, smart, highly market-aware editor and publisher, and who I know will lead the fantastic Basic Books Group team to new heights."
Heimert joined Basic Books from Yale University Press in 2005 as executive editor and became v-p and publisher in 2012. She subsequently added Seal Press to her responsibilities and created Basic Books UK in conjunction with John Murray Press. In 2023, Heimert added PublicAffairs and Bold Type Books, and in 2024 she created the new imprints Basic Liberty and Basic Venture and became president of the newly formed Basic Books Group.
She said, "I have been incredibly lucky to spend the last 21 years working with some of the smartest scholars in the world, and alongside a brilliant group of colleagues. It is largely because of BBG's extraordinary team that I feel comfortable stepping away and letting the next generation carry the mission forward. I couldn't be more thrilled that Brian Distelberg will be my successor. I have worked with him for a decade and know him to be a leader of exquisite taste, judgment, and ethics. I am certain that the Basic Books Group will become even stronger and smarter with him at the helm."
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| Brian Distelberg | |
Distelberg joined Basic Books in 2015 from Harvard University Press, and became v-p, associate publisher of Basic Books Group in 2024. He holds a PhD in history from Yale University.
He said in part, "I'm excited to lead the talented Basic Books Group team to continued success and further growth by staying true to the values that have animated Basic for more than 75 years. As publishers of enduring books that emerge from authentic human expertise and deep research and reporting, our six imprints have a tremendous opportunity to serve readers who hunger for an alternative to AI summaries, addictive algorithms, and ephemeral content."