Phenomenal Media, Hachette Book Group Announce Publishing Partnership

Phenomenal Media, the media and merchandising company founded by Meena Harris, announced Tuesday a publishing partnership with Hachette Book Group divisions, launching Phenomenal Media Books.

Phenomenal Media Books will develop and acquire works from underrepresented voices across multiple genres and for audiences of all ages. Books will be published in collaboration with imprints Grand Central Publishing and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Founder and CEO Meena Harris, who is the niece of Vice President Kamala Harris, said in a statement, “We are excited to be able to expand on our mission to support underrepresented voices and singular storytelling through this unprecedented publishing partnership with Hachette. We were thrilled to see the positive reaction to our launch of Phenomenal Book Club — clearly, people are looking for more stories from authors who, too often, do not receive the spotlight from the publishing industry. Phenomenal Media Books will provide new avenues for discovering those authors and positioning their works for success.”

The publishing partnership follows Phenomenal Media’s launch of a book club dedicated to highlighting underrepresented authors and included Nikole Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project and its kids’ companion Born On The Water as its first picks. With the publishing partnership, Phenomenal will continue to expand on Phenomenal’s mission of championing women and historically excluded communities in the publishing world.

Last November, the company made a move into the entertainment space, hiring former Universal executive Juliet Liu as head of content and entertainment, and Regina Lee as head of development for film & TV.

Acquisitions and editorial decisions for Phenomenal Media Books will be made by a team of Phenomenal staff, including Harris and Liu. LBYR VP & Editorial Director Farrin Jacobs will oversee young adult/children’s projects and GCP VP and Digital Paperback Publisher Beth de Guzman adult projects.

“As the home of Meena Harris’s children’s books for several years, we have seen up close her business and marketing acumen, as well as her dedication to creating books that all kinds of children can see themselves in,” Megan Tingley, President & Publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, said in a statement. “We’re excited by the prospect of growing that relationship and together championing more stories from underrepresented voices.”

GCP’s de Guzman added of the partnership, “We are passionate supporters of Phenomenal Media’s mission at GCP and are thrilled to collaborate with their team across our imprints here, including Grand Central and Legacy Lit, to publish and market creative, original, and important books for adult audiences by underrepresented authors.”

Harris’s fourth children’s book A Is For Ambitious, a sequel to her New York Times bestseller Ambitious Girl, will release on March 14.