Hachette Book Group’s revenues were down 4.9 percent in 2014 as compared to 2013, the company revealed this week. HBG’s annual sales accounted for 24 percent of parent company Hachette Livre’s overall sales last year, a slight drop from 25 percent in 2013.
For a significant portion of the year, many of the company’s books were unavailable on Amazon while the two companies disputed terms for months.
“Hachette came through a challenging year having achieved many successes — including publishing hundreds of bestsellers, winning several major awards, and acquiring Black Dog & Leventhal at the close of 2014,” stated Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch. “We’ve had a superb start to the year, with a Caldecott Medal and a Grammy Award, and we’re looking forward to one of the strongest lineups that we’ve ever published coming in 2015.”