Hachette Livre, part of the media division of French corporate giant Groupe Lagardère, announced recently that it would launch two new science fiction and fantasy imprints over the coming eighteen months.

Expanding Hachette Livre UK’s Orbit science fiction imprint, the company will launch Orbit USA as part of the Hachette Book Group USA and Orbit Australia as part of Hachette Livre Australia. Current Orbit UK Publishing Director Tim Holman will relocate to New York to run Orbit USA and will oversee the establishment of Orbit Australia, where an editor will be appointed to manage local publishing.

Earlier this year Hachette Livre acquired the New York and London operations of the Time Warner Book Group, making it the third largest book publisher in the world. The Orbit announcement is part of Hachette Livre’s global moves to rationalize its international publishing assets following the Time Warner acquisition, which includes the recent decision in Australia to amalgamate Lothian Books with Hachette’s Children’s Publishing.

While it’s too early to say exactly what impact these announcements will have on science fiction and fantasy writers and science fiction and fantasy publishing in Australia, there’s no doubt that the impact could be considerable. At the very least, Hodder Headline Australia now comes under the Hachette banner, as does Lothian, and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to imagine that distribution deals affecting Orion Publishing Group and Orbit UK titles may be affected.

Beyond that, it seems that Hachette Livre will take a more centralized approach to publishing science fiction and fantasy globally. In the June 1 announcement, Orbit Publishing Director Tim Holman said: “This move will, of course, put us in an extremely strong position to offer global English-language publishing opportunities, while aspiring to publishing excellence in each market. I am hugely looking forward to working with new colleagues in both the USA and Australia, and strengthening ties between all of the Hachette Livre SF and Fantasy publishers.” Hachette Livre Australia Managing Director and Orion Publishing Group Deputy Chief Executive and Publisher Malcolm Edwards also said: “It is rare for large publishers to combine, in such a single minded way, to nurture talent, with the express intention of giving authors the very real opportunity of being published globally, and we are very much looking forward to being part of this pioneering approach.” And Little, Brown CEO Ursula Mackenzie said in The Bookseller: “This a truly exciting development for Orbit that can only result in a considerable strengthening of its presence and reputation in the UK and around the world.”

I’m cautiously optimistic about these developments. Both Hachette Livre Australia MD Edwards and Orbit Publishing Director Holman has a strong commitment to science fiction, and a great track record for developing new science fiction writers. Having a large publisher with global connections and assets focusing on science fiction in Australia can only be a good thing for Australia, which over the past fifteen years has been very successful in developing fantasy writers through imprints like HarperCollins Australia’s Voyager, but hasn’t seen the same level of success in developing science fiction here.

Any Australian writer selling a book to Orbit Australia is likely to benefit from Hachette’s considerable international resources, and may find that getting into the UK and US markets will become easier. On the other hand, where Orbit Australia picks up World English Language rights authors will need to be aware of a range of issues like whether some territories are treated as export markets, what royalties apply, the on-selling of rights, and the handling of remainders and over-stocks. Still, even allowing for such considerations, the announcement of a new science fiction imprint in Australia with the kind of expertise that people like Tim Holman and Malcolm Edwards brings with him is an exciting development indeed.

Note: This post has been amended to correct an error. Malcolm Edwards, Managing Director of Hachette Livre Australia is not the same Malcolm Edwards who is Orion Publishing Group Deputy Chief Executive and Publisher.