Bloomsbury Announce SFFH Imprint, Bloomsbury Archer
Bloomsbury Launches New SFFH Imprint: Bloomsbury Archer for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
Bloomsbury has announced a new imprint to launch in the UK this autumn and in the US next year. Bloomsbury Archer is specifically geared towards speculative fiction, which seems to cover a wide umbrella of subgenres, including science fiction, fantasy, speculative romance, horror, and alternate history. The new imprint takes its name from Bloomsbury’s logo, the archer Diana, and specifically mentions myth retellings as one of the subgenres they will be publishing.
The new imprint will incorporate certain authors already contracted with Bloomsbury, such as Alan Moore and Samantha Shannon, but is also building a new catalogue ready to be announced later this year. Bloomsbury Archer is headed up by Noa Wheeler – who has acquired such fantasy authors in the past as Leigh Bardugo and Kekla Magoon – and Erica Barmash in the US, and Vicky Leech Mateos in the UK. All editors have had a long career in media and acquisitions within Bloomsbury, and with other Big Four publishers.
In the imprint’s launch announcement, Barmash acknowledged the importance of building fandom in the forming of a new catalogue: “Reaching the passionate fandoms around genre fiction has always been the most inspiring part of my work. We can’t wait to continue engaging with readers online and in-person and talking about our favorite other worlds.” There was also a reference to fantasy as a genre attracting “more and more readers … in recent years” ( https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/connect/latest-news/bloomsbury-usa-announces-the-launch-of-new-sff-imprint-bloomsbury-archer/ ). The imprint, then, intends to build upon Bloomsbury’s existing connection to various speculative fandoms – let us never forget that Bloomsbury picked up Harry Potter’s UK rights back in 1997 – but moving them to a specific imprint. This may mean a higher profile for new up-and-coming speculative fiction authors, although the scope described by the imprint seems incredibly broad.
One hopes that Bloomsbury Archer will see the same success as Raven Books, an imprint launched by Bloomsbury in 2017. Although Raven Books claims to specialise in crime and thrillers, several well-known and award-winning authors of speculative fiction have been featured under the imprint, such as Stuart Turton and Laura Purcell. Rather than finding a straight crime reputation, Raven has always featured the Gothic, and one can’t help but wonder how much cross-over there will be between the two imprints – especially as Bloomsbury Archer claims to take on works of horror. The success of Raven Books can be largely attributed to its editor-in-chief, Miranda Jewess, whose work on Raven’s books is frequently acknowledged in authors’ notes and on authors’ social media.
A potential issue faced by Bloomsbury Archer is the very broad scope of its generic aim. Publishers specifically geared towards spec-fic, such as Tor Books and Titan Books, have created more specialised imprints in the last ten years, acknowledging the increased density and diversity of speculative fiction. If the aim is to build fan communities, the imprint needs to recognise that speculative romance and horror draw a very different readership, with only a slim slice in the Venn diagram for those who enjoy both. It will be interesting to see how this imprint’s initial publications work to build a cohesive catalogue.
While another imprint from a Big Four publisher specifically geared towards SFFH can only be a good thing for the genre, one does wonder how this will affect the hard work done by small independent presses to expand the genre, publish interesting original works, and increase diversity and representation of authors in the genre. Let us never forget Jeannette Ng’s incisive acceptance speech that saw the John W. Campbell Award changed to the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. Bloomsbury has always stood behind its transphobic and arguably most famous author, and large publishing houses have the power and money to push genres in specific directions. With higher advertising budgets and the ability to reach readerships who might not immediately class themselves as “spec fic fans,” we must hope that the privileged few new authors taken on by this imprint for their initial catalogue will reflect the inclusive ethos the various subgenres of SFFH continue to work hard to cultivate.
