The Warner Books imprint of Hachette Book Group USA announced today that it will change its name to Grand Central Publishing. The imprint was formerly part of Time Warner Book Group, which was acquired last February for $537.5 million by the Hachette Livre division of the French conglomerate Lagardère. One of the terms of the sale stipulated that Warner Books must announce a new name by 2011. In April, the publisher will move from its current offices in the Time & Life Building, near Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, to a new location near Grand Central Terminal.
Warner Books publishes approximately three hundred books each year. It is known primarily for commercial and mass market fiction, but recently hired former Random House editor in chief Jonathan Karp to run his own literary imprint, Twelve. The first books under the Grand Central Publishing imprint will be published in the fall. Other Hachette imprints, such as Little, Brown; Back Bay; and Bulfinch Press, will keep their names.
