Soaring twenties: 20 years of Hardie Grant
Hardie Grant Publishing celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Books+Publishing looks back over the publisher’s many highlights.
When Hardie Grant Publishing was established in 1997, the company had two clear goals: to publish ‘strong nonfiction’ with an ‘Australian design sensibility’ for the Australian and global bookselling market; and to provide ‘expert custom publishing services’. ‘The values that were held at the start still hold true today,’ says group managing director Julie Pinkham.
Hardie Grant’s first book was Labels by UK author Louis de Bernieres—a short story published in 1998 in conjunction with the author’s arrival at Adelaide Writers’ Week. A facsimile copy is being re-issued in February 2018 commemorating 20 years since its original publication.
Soon after, Hardie Grant partnered with US publisher Chronicle Books, ‘the first of many great partnerships with the world’s best publishers’, securing additional ANZ distribution rights for publishers such as Workman, Rizzoli, Andrews McMeel and Michael O’Mara, and ‘bringing global trends, such as adult colouring and instapoetry, to the Australian market’.
A number of milestones followed. They include:
- 1999: Hardie Grant publishes its first cookbook Arabesque by Greg Malouf, kicking off a formidable food and lifestyle list
- 2001: The bestselling ‘Go Girl!’ series is launched, leading the way for future children’s book series successes, including Sally Rippin’s ‘Billie B Brown’ series, which has sold more than three million copies in Australia and New Zealand, and more than one million copies overseas, since its launch in 2010
- 2002: Hardie Grant partners with Egmont UK and acquires ANZ distribution rights to a number of huge children’s book brands, including Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ series, Winnie-the-Pooh and Star Wars
- 2004: Molvania sells over 700,000 copies globally and wins the Australian Publishers Association Marketing Campaign of the Year
- 2007: Florence Broadhurst wins best-designed book of the year at the Australian Book Design Awards
- 2009: Hardie Grant acquires Universal and forms Hardie Grant Travel, adding street directories (with life sales of over 50 million copies) to its travel list
- 2010: Hardie Grant acquires the picture book imprint Little Hare, with a list that includes Freya Blackwood, Libby Gleeson and Bronwyn Bancroft
- 2013: Hardie Grant acquires Quadrille, a UK lifestyle publisher with authors such as Antonio Carluccio, Michel Roux and Gordon Ramsay
- 2014: The inaugural Ampersand Prize-winner, Melissa Keil’s Life in Outer Space, is published. The YA prize has launched the careers of several authors, including Keil and Erin Gough
- 2016: Hardie Grant celebrates 10 years in publishing partnership with James Halliday.
Over the years, Hardie Grant has also led the way for Australian publishers with international ambitions, not just by partnering with overseas publishers, but also by opening a London office in 2009, ‘allowing direct access and targeted publishing into the UK market’, followed by a US office (situated with Chronicle Books in San Francisco) in 2016.
‘The next decade we hope to build on our rapid growth in the US, find increasing pathways into Asia and expand our online content delivery,’ says CEO Sandy Grant. ‘Global markets for our authors are essential—but challenging. We keep having to embrace change and find the opportunities change presents.’
Category: Features Magazine feature story
