Hay House seeks room in UK

Hay House, the US-based mind, body and spirit publisher, has opened a London office to push sales and build a new UK list. The office will import about 50 titles a year from the US, where Hay House has become one of the fastest growing MBS and personal development publishers.

The company was founded in 1984 by Louise Hay to publish her books "Heal Your Body" and "You Can Heal Your Life", which became international bestsellers. It had sales of about $30m (£19.1m) in 2002.

The UK arm of Hay House plans to publish between six and 10 titles a year, split between the personal development and MBS genres. The first title, "Spirit Messenger" by Scottish medium Gordon Smith, will be published in July. The UK titles will be acquired with markets in the US, Australia and Canada in mind. Distribution in the UK will continue to be through the Airlift Book Company. Hay House's three-strong UK team will comprise m.d. Megan Slyfield, publisher Michelle Pilley and marketing director Jo Lal, who share 35 years' experience in MBS publishing. The trio previously worked together at HarperCollins' Thorsons imprint.