Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Puts Hold on Acquisitions

Posted on November 24, 2008

The recession is affecting the book industry: Barnes and Noble has warned on earnings. Another unsettling sign is that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has told its editors to stop accepting new manuscripts.

A hold on acquisitions can have a major impact on the industry - from authors to booksellers. The news was confirmed by Publisher's Weekly.

Josef Blumenfeld, v-p of communications for HMH, confirmed that the publisher has "temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts" across its trade and reference divisions. The directive was given verbally to a handful of executives and, according to Blumenfeld, is "not a permanent change." Blumenfeld, who hedged on when the ban might be lifted, said that the right project could still go to the editorial review board. He also maintained that the the decision is less about taking drastic measures than conducting good business.

"In this case, it's a symbol of doing things smarter; it's not an indicator of the end of literature," he said. "We have turned off the spigot, but we have a very robust pipeline."

Agent Jonathon Lazaer told PW, "I've been in the business a long time and at a couple of houses I worked at, when things were bad, we were asked to cut back. But I've never heard of anything so public."

It's a disturbing turn of events, no question.

Update: A report in Dealbook says Becky Saletan, the publisher of the adult trade division, has resigned.