The February Roundup: Five of the Month’s Biggest Publishing Stories Every Writer Should Know About

Welcome to Five On Fridays, my weekly straight-no-chaser newsletter where I help demystify the publishing industry for new writers and early-career authors. Let’s jump right in.

As we wind down the month, I think most of us will agree that this particular shortest month of the year felt like an entire year in and of itself. To put it mildly, February was … something—for many reasons and for many industries—but since this is a publishing-focused newsletter, I’ll be sharing five stories I think authors, in particular, should be paying close attention to. 

A group of indie publishers unite to form the Stable Book Group

The Stable Book Group, which includes founders and executives from indie presses such as Ulysses Press, She Writes Press, and the Vimbly Group, states its mission as “leveling the playing field for independent publishers by harnessing the power of shared resources, cutting-edge systems, and a collaborative team of passionate book lovers.” The group, which offers a hybrid publishing model, will pool warehousing and other resources and will use Simon & Schuster for distribution. I think we’ll see more of these types of collaborations in the future as indie presses and hybrid publishers look at innovative ways to compete with the sheer size and reach of the Big 5.

New publishing imprints

Entangled Publishing, a boutique romance publisher, announced two new YA-focused imprints. Mischief Books, launching winter 2026, will cater to readers aged 13 and older. Mayhem Books, launching fall 2025, will publish fiction for teens 16 and older. Hachette Book Group also announced the launch of a new imprint, Requited. Requited promises to offer “fast-paced, romantic, bingeable novels across genres that center characters in their upper teens and twenties as they navigate early adulthood.” Requited plans to publish 10 to 20 titles annually, with the first releases scheduled for early 2026. In the US, YA book sales have declined in recent years, though globally, the genre has shown steady growth. Publishers might be skittish about the children’s book market, but the resurgence of physical bookstores and the influence of BookTok has had a positive impact on sales to younger readers. It seems that at least some publishers are betting on the positive trends continuing. Additional publishing imprints announced this month include Atria and Emily Bestler Books teaming up to launch 12:01 Books, a horror imprint.

AI-narrated audiobooks

ElevenLabs has launched an author service that creates AI-narrated audiobooks for free. ElevenReader Publishing’s audiobook listeners will be able to access the audiobooks through the ElevenReader app. The audiobooks will be downloadable, but the creators note that many audiobook platforms, such as Audible, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble, may not accept AI-narrated audiobooks. ElevenLabs say the AI voices were created in partnership with paid voice actors, but as with all things AI in the publishing space, I anticipate tension about the use of AI in this way as questions will arise about how well voice actors were compensated and how derivative creations based on their voices will be used. I’ll also be curious to see reader reaction to learning that their audiobook narrator’s voice is AI. 

Major deals

I don’t typically write about major deals. After all, they’re the industry outliers. But, I think it makes sense to pay attention to what publishers are spending big money on and when. By my count, 14 major deals (any deal over $500K) were announced on Publishers Marketplace in February. The deals were spread across genres, with romantasy and non-fiction holding several spots in the lineup. Books with speculative elements also held a number of spots. Debuts held 4 of the 14 spots. These debut authors include a NYT-bestselling author of middle grade publishing her first adult title, a Reese Book Club LitUp Fellow, and a Lambda Literary Fellow. Two deals of note: Witcher series author Andrzej Sapkowski’s standalone novel, CROSSROADS OF RAVENS, will be released on September 30, 2025. The seven-figure deal includes 19 international publishers. And, the originally self-published romantasy novel METAL SLINGER by Rachel Schneider received a seven-figure, three-book deal at auction.

A lawsuit threat

In my very first newsletter post, I wrote about the ways politics would disrupt the publishing industry this year. One thing I was certain of was that this administration would attempt to restrict free speech. From book banning to threatening dissenting voices on social media, the administration is proving I was right to be concerned. And now, in the latest news, Donald Trump is threatening to sue authors, publishers, and the media for citing anonymous sources in their work. And this comes after he barred the Associated Press from attending events in the Oval Office. The ability to cite anonymous sources is the foundation of a free press. Attempts to threaten or curb this longstanding practice could have deleterious consequences for authors and publishers alike. It will be interesting to see how (and if) publishers respond to these threats and how far they’ll go to protect their authors.

That wraps up this week’s Five On Fridays. Thank you for subscribing and reading. If you found this newsletter helpful, please share it on social media and forward it to your writer friends. Happy writing!

-Grace