Hachette Q3 Sales

Contributions for the November 2024 acquisition of Union Square and solid performances from existing imprints resulted in a strong third quarter for Hachette Book Group, CEO David Shelley said following the release of the results from Louis Hachette Group, parent company of Lagardère Publishing, of which HBG is part, and Lagardère Travel. Including sales from Union Square, third quarter sale were up 12.5% and rose 6% excluding Union Square.

The encouraging third quarter follows a six-month period when HBG sales were up 7%, driven mainly by the Union Square purchase. In Q3, revenue was led by a string of bestsellers including two books coauthored by James Patterson plus Ken Follett’s Circle of Days, the first book by the mega-selling author since he moved to Hachette from Penguin Random House. The release of three special 20th-anniversary editions of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga also added to sales. With the strong third period, HBG said its has moved from the number four position on the Circana BookScan list to number three publisher, a position it last held in 2012.

Through the first nine months of 2025, HBG’s sales were up 9.1% compared to 2024 and increased 1.8% excluding results from Union Square. For the entire Lagardère Publishing group, nine-month sales rose 4.1%, to €2.16 billion.

Shelley has made a point of continuing to promote HBG’s DEI initiatives despite ongoing pressure from the Trump administration to cut such efforts in all parts of U.S. business and culture. To that end, in September, HBG hosted its inaugural Changing the Story Festival—an in-person and virtual all-staff festival dedicated to HBG’s commitment to DEI. HBG also returned as a sponsor of the Latinx Storytellers Conference, partnered with Her Agenda and HBG’s Women in Publishing employee resource group for Off the Page: The Women Changing Publishing & Media, and its Legacy Lit imprint launched the Blackademics Author Talk Series