Hachette Employees Protest New Conservative Imprint
Source / ArchiveA group of employees at Hachette Book Group have penned a letter to management condemning the announced launch of a new conservative imprint, Basic Liberty, and hiring of Thomas Spence, former president and publisher of Regnery, to helm it.
On November 7, two days after the presidential election, HBG and Hachette UK CEO David Shelley announced that the Basic Books Group would be adding to its portfolio the Basic Liberty imprint, described as "a new conservative imprint that will publish serious works of cultural, social, and political analysis by conservative writers of original thought." He also announced that Spence—currently a visiting fellow at the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation—had been hired to lead the imprint as executive editor.
Spence worked at Regnery for more than 11 years, and led the company for nearly four years after the retirement of longtime president and publisher Marji Ross in 2019. Earlier this year, following Skyhorse’s acquisition of Regnery in late 2023, he joined the Heritage Foundation as a senior advisor.
Among the books acquired by Regnery during Spence’s tenure are Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America by Ted Cruz; Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis; and Abigail Shrier's controversial book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. He also acquired Senator Josh Hawley's book, The Tyranny of Big Tech, after it was dropped by Simon & Schuster following the January 6 riot at the Capitol, which many saw Hawley as being partly responsible for inciting.
The letter from employees, posted to the Instagram account xoxopublishingg, states: "As employees of HBG, we stand together in firm disapprobation of the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and any conservative movement or thought that strips away sacred rights and the humanity of people. We disavow David Shelley's unsympathetic and insensitive remarks,"—delivered, the letter notes, "shortly after many friends, colleagues, and loved ones were left reeling from election results"—"and maintain that the dignity, rights, and freedoms of all people should be upheld by everyone, especially those in positions of power."
It continues: "We condemn HBG's decision to put profit before its own people, to let the promise of financial gain overtake morality and conscience, and to platform a person who contributes to the advancement of the Heritage Foundation's vision for America. We are calling on HBG to recognize the responsibility it has as one of the world's leading publishers, to act with empathy and compassion for all people, and to reevaluate its decision to move forward with the creation of Basic Liberty and the hiring of Thomas Spence."
Following the announcement, at least one Hachette employee—Alex DiFrancesco, an editor at the Hachette UK imprint Jessica Kingsley Publishers—has resigned.
"Hachette Book Group's mission is to reach a broad spectrum of readers by making it easier for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment, and opportunity," said an HBG spokesperson in a statement to PW. "We publish books from all sides of the political debate."
The statement continued: "Since 1950, Basic Books' award-winning titles have helped shape public debate through the academic expertise of their authors, the serious approach to how subject matter is treated, and the rigor of its editorial process. Basic Books continues to build on HBG’s legacy of reaching readers of all backgrounds and beliefs."
As per the Basic Liberty webpage on Hachette's website, the imprint aims to publish "conservative writers who meet the same high standards of original and penetrating thought for which Basic Books is famous," and its "list reflects a wide range of conservative perspectives, the only requirements being intellectual rigor and clarity."
Basic Liberty is not HBG's first conservative imprint. Center Street, an imprint of HBG's Grand Central Publishing division, publishes "the top conservative voices for politics, business, and military," per its Instagram bio. In 2021, Center Street editorial director Kate Hartson—who published Donald Trump Jr.'s Triggered, Corey Lewandowski's Trump: America First, and books by Jeanine Pirro and Newt Gingrich—was let go. Per the New York Times, in the wake of January 6 HBG execs "made clear to both editors and agents that they're shifting back toward think tank conservatives, and away from fire-breathing politicians."
The Hachette employees behind the letter had yet to respond to PW’s request for comment by press time.
