Guardian News & Media and Faber and Faber announce new publishing imprint
Guardian News & Media and Faber and Faber have announced that they will be joining forces to produce a new “unique” publishing proposition – Guardian Faber.
Combining editorial expertise and international reach, the joint venture will see Guardian Faber offer an expansive publishing list across a range of genres – including current affairs, sport, humour, science and technology, health, cookery and culture – as well as showcasing a number of authors and commissioning up to 20 new non-fiction works annually.
Titles include: Facts Are Sacred – an e-book exploring data visualisation; Racing Hard by the Guardian’s cycling columnist; and Untangling the Web by the Guardian’s Tech podcast host – an investigation into the personal impact of the internet.
As print sales decline year on year, newsbrands are continuing to invest in new business propositions that play to their brand’s reputation to supplement declining advertising revenues.
Speaking at Media Playground last month, WIRED editor David Rowan said newsbrands must work much harder to counter the fact that so much content is now free on the Internet.
“[Traditional print] media is still a multi-billion pound business,” Rowan said, “but, simply, we must add value to the internet. Everything we do is already on the internet for free, so we must be innovative about what we offer alongside that.” He said this will be true for other print brands too.
Worried that large chunks of of the newspaper and magazine industry are not working hard enough – if at all – to counter the threat posed by the internet, Rowan said that newspapers and magazines need to “work out what they are good at, what they know and then add value based on that knowledge,” citing the Vice brand as the perfect example.
Vice, which started as a free printed magazine in Canada has, in a very short space of time, become a global youth brand involved in film and music production, live events, clothing and online TV amongst its growing portfolio.
The new Guardian News & Media and Faber and Faber coalition further demonstrates this necessary shift.
“We are really proud to be partnering with Faber and Faber, with whom we share many of the same brand values, including independence, innovation and quality,” said Sara Montgomery, Head of Guardian Books.
“By combining these values with our joint commitment to bold publishing, digital expertise and our ability to nurture a direct to consumer relationship, we believe that this unique imprint will ensure that books will remain current, relevant and discoverable.”
Stephen Page, CEO at Faber shared Montgomery’s enthusiasm and confidence and said that the partnership between the two will offer a new kind of publishing opportunity.
The publications will be available internationally, both physically and digitally.