Joffe Books acquires Lume Books for undisclosed sum

Jasper Joffe, c.e.o. of independent publisher Joffe Books, has acquired Lume Books from previous owner Matthew Lynn for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition comes hot on the heels of Joffe’s acquisition in March of Choc Lit, an independent publisher of romance and women’s fiction, and sees Joffe become the UK’s largest independent fiction publisher by title count according to the publisher.

Founded in 2018, Lume Books has a wide-ranging and eclectic list featuring many award-winning authors of both fiction and non-fiction, including A J P Taylor, H R F  Keating and Keith Waterhouse. All Lume members of staff will be moving over to Joffe Books. Joffe will be taking over the Lume list of approximately 5,000 titles by 800 authors, and “with a laser-like focus on marketing and design”, will be "relaunching" the books.

Joffe said: “I couldn’t be more delighted to take over the Lume mantle. Matthew Lynn is a true pioneer of digital publishing and has built one of the largest lists of digital books in the UK, with a focus on the genres that Joffe excels in. With this acquisition, Joffe Books becomes the largest independent publisher in the UK by title count. 

“And our aim will be to increase sales in the same way we’ve achieved with Robert Hale. Lume authors will benefit from the scale we will offer and the superb attention to detail our editors and marketers bring to every single book. There is no backlist at Joffe, just great books people haven’t read yet.” 

In 2019, Joffe Books acquired the Robert Hale backlist from Crowood Press, reissuing authors including Roger Silverwood, Frances Lloyd, David Hodges and Bill Kitson. The publisher went on to acquire Ostara Publishing in 2022, reissuing and rebranding crime writers such as D M Greenwood, V C Clinton-Baddeley, Frank McAuliffe and Ian Morson.

Lynn said: “Jasper Joffe has proved himself the most ambitious and innovative publisher in the UK over the last decade. Joffe Books will be a fantastic home for Lume’s brilliant staff and authors. By putting the two businesses together, Joffe Books will not only create the largest independent publisher in the UK by title count, but a genuine challenger to break into the Big Five that dominate the industry. Joffe Books is a new force in British and world publishing, and I am immensely proud that Lume will be a part of that.”