An update on HBG’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts (April 10, 2023)

Hachette Book Group shared the fourth in a series of annual reports on HBG’s progress in diversity, equity and inclusion.

CEO Michael Pietsch said, “At HBG we believe that promoting diversity and inclusion is not just the right thing to do, it’s vital to our success and growth. We remain dedicated to creating a workplace culture that values and celebrates our differences, and to creating publishing programs that more fully reflect the rich array of voices and topics our nation contains. I’m grateful to HBG’s Chief Diversity Officer, Carrie Bloxson, for her vision and leadership across all our DEI initiatives, and to the many colleagues across HBG who are instrumental in driving our DEI efforts forward. Their hard work and commitment to creating a more inclusive workplace is a powerful force in our company.”

VP and Chief Diversity Officer Carrie Bloxson said, “Our country is extraordinarily diverse, and we are committing to having a company and a publishing program that reflects that diversity. This past year, we welcomed and celebrated the myriad of diverse perspectives, talents, and backgrounds that have driven creativity and growth at HBG. We also are aware of the many challenges we still face—some are new, many persist. Championing diversity and inclusion and promoting fairness and respect are essential to our culture at HBG. We will not allow this to be a transient moment or passing trend. Our commitment to DEI is unwavering and ever-present.”

2022 Highlights: Staff, Career Advancement, and Publishing.

1. 61% of our new hires in 2022 identify as BIPOC*, compared to 54% of new hires in 2021, and 48% in 2020.
2. In 2022, BIPOC employee representation increased in nearly every publishing group and non-publishing division.
3. Overall staff diversity increased by 2.5%, to 36.4% of our employees.
4. Over the past decade, diversity at HBG has increased every year, with the percentage of BIPOC employees increasing from 20.7% of our overall population in 2012 to 36.4% in 2022, a growth of 76%.
5. From 2019 to 2022, the percentage of books acquired from BIPOC creators new to HBG increased by 50%, to 33% of those acquisitions. There was a slight decrease of 3% in that metric from 2021 to 2022. The percentage of books acquired from all creators, including returning BIPOC authors and illustrators, increased by 20% between 2019 and 2022, to 24% of all acquisitions, while year on year that overall total declined by 14%.

*BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color

NOTE: Workman is included in our 2022 data.

Leadership

While diversity at HBG grew overall, at the VP and above level it remained the same, at 17.9%, and at the Director level it decreased, to 21.6%. We are expanding our HR team devoted to recruitment in diverse communities to help us increase growth in this important area.

Recruitment and Hiring

• 61% of our new hires in 2022 identify as BIPOC, compared to 54% in 2021, and 48% in 2020.
• We revised our recruitment and hiring processes to promote inclusivity and eliminate bias. We expanded outreach to more sources for candidates of color, identifying more than 70 DEI-focused job boards to promote open positions across levels and job functions.
• HBG’s HR team held 36 recruiting events in 2022, with 1,300 candidates and 45 HBG staff participating.
• HBG’s Summer 2022 Intern class was 85% BIPOC, and offered all interns resumé and professional development workshops, a comprehensive publishing curriculum, and mentorship opportunities.

Culture and Retention

We provided Diversity & Inclusion Training to all office employees.

We continued training in 2022 with a new DEI Learning Session series hosted by HBG and led by experts on important topics. Sessions covered developing cultural competency, psychological safety, allyship, and bias training for hiring managers.

Publishing

Acquisitions of books from BIPOC authors and illustrators new to HBG increased 50% since 2019

• From 2019 to 2022, the percentage of books acquired from BIPOC creators new to HBG has increased by 50%, to 33% of those acquisitions. There was a slight decrease of 3% in that metric from 2021 to 2022.
• The percentage of books acquired from all authors and illustrators, including returning BIPOC authors, increased by 20% between 2019 and 2022, to 24% of all acquisitions, while year on year that overall total declined by 14%.
• Our publishing groups are fully committed not just to expanding the diversity of their publishing programs but also to continuing to improve their capabilities for marketing effectively to diverse audiences.

Hachette Partnerships

In March 2022, we launched new philanthropic partnerships with Lambda Literary, Hurston/Wright Foundation, City College of New York, and We Need Diverse Books. These four partnerships are designed to support writers and publishing professionals from underrepresented backgrounds. Our partners’ goals align with ours: to make publishing more inclusive, more diverse, and more accessible for all, while opening publishing up to a far broader array of talents, perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences.

2022 Highlights:

We launched our first-ever writing residency program to build a supportive community of Black writers with Hurston/Wright Foundation at Rutgers University in Summer 2022.

HBG joined Lambda Literary and their executives at their annual writers’ retreat, where employees across HBG shared their experiences on how a book is published—from acquisition to on-sale date, and all of the important steps in between.

We launched Rise Up with We Need Diverse Books, a community platform to support mid-level publishing professionals from diverse backgrounds, with 125+ members and counting.

We welcomed our first CCNY Fellow to Hachette Book Group, a graduate of their Publishing Certificate Program.

Additional industry initiatives: fighting book bans and protecting freedom of expression

HBG plays an active role in industry campaigns that address book banning and protect freedom of expression through financial donations, via our work with organizations that support marginalized authors and freedom of speech, through social media amplification, and HBG author participation.

As book bans intensified in 2022, HBG underwrote the launch of the Authors Guild’s Banned Books Club and provided support to important efforts including ACLU’s Right to Learn campaign, PEN’s Countering Book Bans project, NCAC’s Kids Right to Read program, and ALA’s Unite Against Book Bans.

For more information see Social Impact at HBG.