You may have heard whispers of this over the (long) SDCC weekend and today we are very proud to officially launch SKYBOUND BOOKS with Simon & Schuster and their Atria Books imprint! We’ve been looking for some really great partners that would help us bring a book division in-house for a while and we’re delighted to be partnering with Atria Books to co-publish our endeavors. Fans can look forward to books that span genres and still have that classic Skybound feel. We’ll be exploring worlds that already exist in the Skybound line-up and also discovering new properties and new stories.
Of course, a book division is a big project and it’s not going to manage itself. We’ve brought Mike Braff on board as Senior Editor of Skybound Books. He’s already hard at work meeting with authors and developing our opening slate of books.
And as our Editorial department grows, Sean Mackiewicz, formerly Editorial Director, is now SVP, Editor-in-Chief of Skybound Entertainment and will oversee Skybound Books and our comic lineup.
So welcome, Mike and congrats, Sean! This is very exciting stuff!
Below is the full press release from Atria:
ATRIA BOOKS AND SKYBOUND ENTERTAINMENT TO LAUNCH NEW IMPRINT
(NEW YORK) –July 21, 2017. Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and Skybound Entertainment, the multi-platform entertainment company responsible for such television hits as The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead and Outcast have announced a new co-publishing imprint, Skybound Books, which will focus on science fiction, fantasy and horror properties.
Skybound Books will initially publish four to six titles per year and will include original works of fiction and nonfiction as well as books derived from existing and forthcoming Skybound Entertainment properties.
Skybound Entertainment has hired Michael Braff as Senior Editor of the imprint, based in Los Angeles. He comes to Skybound after ten years at Penguin Random House, where he acquired and edited numerous best-selling and award-winning science fiction and fantasy titles for Del Rey Books. Sean Mackiewicz will oversee Braff and all strategic functions of the imprint in his new role as Senior Vice President, Editor-In-Chief at Skybound Entertainment. Sean previously served as Editorial Director at Skybound since 2012.
Judith Curr, President and Publisher of Atria Books, negotiated the world rights deal alongside Atria’s Vice President and Editor-in-Chief Peter Borland, and Borland and Senior Editor Jhanteigh Kupihea will be the editorial liaisons. Judith Curr said, “This dynamic co-publishing partnership with Skybound—one of the most innovative companies in Hollywood- provides an opportunity to build a publishing home within Atria for writers with bold, new voices and creative visions.”
“This co-publishing partnership between Skybound Entertainment and Atria Books comes at a really exciting time for the company,” said Skybound Entertainment Chairman and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. “We are on a relentless search to find different ways to tell the stories from some the most creative minds out there, and Skybound Books imprint is a very important component of that endeavor.”
Founded in 2010, Skybound Entertainment is a multiplatform entertainment company that houses projects ranging from television, film, digital content, comics, interactive gaming, and live events. Moving into the digital content space, Skybound produced the first-ever narrative VR series, Gone, for Samsung’s Milk VR platform and in 2017 will produce VR horror series Lies Within, which is the first project out of Skybound’s partnership with interactive theatrical company Delusion. Skybound recently announced the film adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s second-longest running comic series Invincible, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg attached to direct, write, and produce the movie for Universal. Additional newly announced Skybound projects include Five Year, Mastermind and Heroes and Villains: The History of Comics.
——
Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, a global leader in general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Touchstone, Adams Media, Threshold Editions, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, and proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information about Atria, visit our website at http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/atria.
