John Murray Press to relaunch Teach Yourself imprint

John Murray Press has revealed plans to relaunch its Teach Yourself imprint, with a focus on language learning publishing. The imprint will form part of John Murray Languages, which includes the Michel Thomas Method and Chambers imprints.

Teach Yourself was launched 86 years ago, publishing its first self-instruction books in 1938. The series has included titles on topics as diverse as book-keeping and pig-farming, embroidery and atomic physics. Some of its earliest titles include language learning books on Arabic, French, German and Greek.

The first series to be relaunched is “Beginners” (formerly known as “Get Started in”) with French, German, Italian, Spanish and Latin American Spanish publishing in May 2024.

As well as the change in name, the series has been given a new cover design, with updated content, a focus on learning to learn, and a more accessible price point. Previously, titles cost around £19.99, whereas the new series will be retailed at £9.99. Collaborations with a range of TikTok influencers will enable the brand to reach a new audience of learners, the publisher says.

Sanphy Thomas, director of specialist publishing at John Murray Press, said: “While many skills can be self-taught via blogs and videos on social platforms, the sales growth of our language learning books, especially during the pandemic, has shown us that there is an increasing number of people who place value on books to guide and support them as they embark on learning a new language or seek to improve their language skills. 

“With a wide range of series spanning more than 70 languages, Teach Yourself books offer courses and tools that cater to different learning styles. With this relaunch our focus is to build on the impressive legacy of the series and position Teach Yourself unequivocally as the go-to publisher for language learning.”

Emma Green, editorial director, John Murray Languages, commented: “Ahead of the relaunch we undertook a significant market research project to really understand what language learners are looking for, and to get an honest view of how they perceive Teach Yourself. The results were both reassuring and insightful; for learners familiar with the brand there was a high level of trust in our publishing, but many participants were not aware of the breadth of our publishing in terms of the languages, levels and series on offer. This feedback has contributed to an ambitious update of our core language series, which will be relaunched over the next few years, as well as how we position and promote these.”