Ben Sevier, currently president of the Grand Central Publishing Group, has been promoted to the position of CEO, Hachette Book Group; and Richard Kitson will be president & COO, Global English Language, Hachette. They continue to report to David Shelley, who will become executive chair of Hachette UK and Hachette Book Group, alongside a new role as global adviser to the CEO and Deputy CEO of Hachette Livre (Arnaud Lagardère and Jean-Christophe Thiery), working on new markets, global synergies, and M&A, among other areas. The promotions are effective January 1, 2027.
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Arnaud Lagardère, chairman and CEO of Hachette Livre, said: "We are delighted to work even more closely with David in his new roles. Bolstered by the exceptional success of our English-language divisions in recent years, we are counting on his key role to expand international collaboration across the group, share our expertise, and develop new synergies that help achieve our ambitions for growth."
Shelley will move back to the U.K. and be based between Hachette's offices in London, New York, Madrid, and Paris. At Hachette UK, Katie Espiner has been promoted to CEO, and Charlie King to deputy CEO, both roles also effective January 1, 2027.
In other changes, Sally Kim, president and publisher of Little, Brown and Company, will add responsibility for the establishment of a new HBG publishing program in Canada. Carrie Bloxson, chief people officer at HBG, adds chief strategy and inclusion officer for both HBG and HUK to her existing role leading human resources, people, talent, and culture. Lisa Waterman, chief people officer at Hachette UK, will also serve as a senior adviser to the U.S. HR team and working closely with Bloxson.
Shelley said, "We have exceptional talent at HBG and with these moves we will continue to place our authors at the center of all we do and to help them find more readers for their work.... I believe under Ben's peerless and author-focused leadership, our publishing will hit new heights. I am also excited about our move into the Canadian market led by Sally, and I know this will help us to serve Canadian readers even better. This evolution of the management structure will also allow us to become even more operationally aligned across the U.K. and the U.S. under Richard's leadership and will help us further our growth plans for client sales and distribution services. And with Carrie and Lisa's promotions, the two businesses will become even more aligned in terms of cultural strategy and inclusion, and people management."
Sevier added: "I'm delighted to have the opportunity to continue my partnerships with David, Richard, Carrie, and the HBG and global executive teams, and to support and learn from our diverse publishing groups and our dynamic central teams here in the U.S. as we grow our authors' sales and make Hachette the destination publisher for top talent across our author, staff, and client rosters."
HBG also appointed two new members to its executive management board. In November, Christine Ball will join the company as president and publisher of Grand Central Publishing, replacing Sevier; and Emily Meehan will be promoted to president and publisher, Union Square and Co., effective January 1, 2027.
Ball was most recently the executive v-p and publisher of Berkley. Sevier called her "an expert cultivator of talent, architect of book campaigns, engineer of author careers, and an experienced leader of publishing teams. I know that Grand Central's authors and teams will benefit hugely from Christine's vision, her depth of experience, her warmth, and her enlightened leadership."
Meehan joined HBG after the acquisition of Union Square & Co. in 2024 and directs all publishing activities across its imprints. Beginning in January, Union Square, currently a part of the Grand Central Publishing Group, will operate as a publishing division within HBG and Meehan will join HBG's executive management board.
Sevier said Meehan "has deftly led Union Square through an ownership change and a complicated integration with HBG, shepherding UNSQ's impressive list of authors into the company and achieving promising results from day one.... I know Emily to be an excellent colleague, a talented publisher, and a visionary leader whose voice on the executive management board will surely benefit all of HBG."