Macmillan US acquires self-publishing platform Pronoun

Macmillan Publishers in the US has acquired NYC-based self-publishing platform Pronoun for an undisclosed sum.

Pronoun, founded as Vook in 2009, relaunched with a new name May 2015. It provides digital book publishing tools and allows authors to publish for free through automated book creation, and distributes the e-books to retailers Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Google Play. It also operates its own publishing imprints, such as Byliner, which publishes books across literary fiction and non-fiction and in-depth journalism, and has published books in partnership with The New York Times, Fast Company, and Forbes.

Pronoun said its new parent company would "allow us to create better tools and services for authors". 

In a blog post announcing the acquisition to its authors yesterday (25th May), Pronoun said "we know we can’t do all of this alone", elaborating that it required "more resources and expertise—from print distribution to editorial to touring and promotion" to support its authors. 

"That’s why we’re excited to announce that Pronoun is joining Macmillan Publishers, a global trade book publishing company with over 100 years experience, and amazing imprints around the world," the post said. "Macmillan shares our philosophy that publishing exists to serve the full spectrum of authors. By joining forces, we’ll be able to invest even more in improving and growing Pronoun’s self-publishing platform, all while giving successful independent authors a path towards more opportunity.

"As a division of Macmillan, we’ll be doubling down on Pronoun’s free core platform, while also investing in additional levels of service and support. We will continue to make the best products we can by starting with the needs of authors and building from there."

C.e.o. Josh Brody will serve as the president of Pronoun while Ben Zhuk, currently chief product officer of Pronoun, will become v.p. of product for Macmillan.

Andrew Weber, Macmillan Publishers c.o.o., added: “I’m excited to welcome Pronoun to Macmillan and look forward to working with Josh and Ben and the rest of the team on the further development of the platform and publishing imprints. We’ve been impressed with the team’s data, analytics, and technology capabilities and believe they will be beneficial to our publishers and authors in addition to an expanding set of independent authors."

Brody added: "We’re thrilled to be joining Macmillan and can’t imagine a better place for Pronoun to continue the work we started two years ago: to build a new model for publishing and to enable writers everywhere to publish great books. Being part of Macmillan will allow us to create better tools and services for authors and will let us do even more for our growing author community.”