Publishing startup Authors Equity has partnered with German new adult romance imprint LYX Books to bring bestselling LYX titles to North American readers. The two publishers plan to introduce a total of four different LYX series in the first six months of the partnership, with all installments releasing on a bimonthly schedule.
This fall, the publishers will launch what they call "a rapid-release program" starting with two series—Sarah Sprinz's Dunbridge Academy series and Selina Mae's Hall Beck University series—with new installments published by Authors Equity every two months. The program kicks off with Sprinz's Anywhere (translated by Rachel Ward) in October and Mae's Lessons in Faking (an English original) in November. Dunbridge Academy also includes the novels Anyone and Anytime, and Hall Beck University also includes the titles Lessons in Forgiving and Lessons in Failing.
"This model reflects how younger readers—especially Gen Z and millennials—consume content today," said Authors Equity president Nina von Moltke, in a statement. "They want consistency and momentum in their romance reading journey, just as they experience it when streaming. We're bringing the same approach to publishing by delivering LYX's already-successful stories on a schedule that matches modern content consumption habits."
To support the partnership, Danielle Finnegan, formerly at Little, Brown, has joined Authors Equity as brand marketing lead. Finnegan will work with LYX to build and expand the brand in the U.S. In Germany, LYX publishes such American romance authors as Hannah Grace, Ana Huang, Elle Kennedy, and Elsie Silver.
The partnership follows a recent explosion in the new adult category in the U.S. Entangled Publishing was among the first to get in on the trend, debuting its Red Tower new adult imprint in late 2022—a show of foresight that earned Entangled publisher Liz Pelletier the title of PW's 2024 person of the year. Last summer, Macmillan launched its first new adult fiction imprint, Saturday Books, and Hachette Book Group followed suit this past February with the launch of Requited.
