Pan Macmillan Acquires Stake in New River Books to Expand Non-Fiction Publishing

Pan Macmillan has acquired a stake in independent publisher New River Books, strengthening its non-fiction portfolio. New River will remain independent, with sales and distribution transferring to Pan Macmillan in July 2027.
on Oct 19, 2026

Pan Macmillan Makes Investment in Non-Fiction Books Publisher New River Books

Pan Macmillan has made an undisclosed equity investment in New River Books, an independent UK publishing house of non-fiction books. This investment will help New River Books expand further while still retaining its independence through its co-founders, Aurea Carpenter and Rebecca Nicolson.

New River Books was founded in 2022 and operates out of Islington, London. This publishing house puts out about 12 books per year in the self-development, social science, nature, and lifestyle genres. Despite being a smaller company, New River Books boasts of quite a number of best-selling books.

Pan Macmillan to Take Charge of New River’s Sales and Distribution in 2027

Under the terms of the deal, Pan Macmillan will take control of sales and distribution of New River’s publications starting from July 2027, taking over the current relationship it has with Hachette. Hachette will continue providing sales and distribution services up to the end of June 2027.

The collaboration is believed to allow New River to leverage Pan Macmillan's experience in distributing books and publishing, at the same time maintaining its independence in the editorial process and unique book acquisitions strategy.

“Non-fiction continues to be an area where there is room for growth and development at Pan Macmillan,” Pan Macmillan chief executive Joanna Prior commented on the collaboration. “New River is the type of independent publisher we want to work with.”

A Growing List of Non-Fiction Bestsellers

New River Books has built up its reputation thanks to the books which have aroused a great deal of commercial interest. Their first book was The Glucose Goddess Method by Jessie Inchauspé, which reached No. 1 in the UK non-fiction paperback list.

Some other successful books are Age Less by Sandra Parsons and The Good, the Bad and the Healthy by Sunna van Kampen, both of which were Sunday Times bestsellers.

The company is also the publisher of Organ Speak by Giulia Enders, the author of the international bestseller Gut. This is their broader list of books about health, science, current affairs, and everyday life.

Non-Fiction Remains a Growth Sector

This acquisition is in line with the expansion of Pan Macmillan’s presence in the non-fiction publishing sector in the UK. According to information provided by Nielsen Total Consumer Market and quoted by the publisher, its non-fiction value sales have grown by 9.3% from 2025 to 2026, being the fastest-growing among the five largest non-fiction publishers in the UK.

The new deal is reflective of a publishing strategy which merges the editorial strengths of small publishing companies with the resources of bigger ones.

For New River Books, the deal represents a chance to grow its publishing portfolio further while remaining a standalone company. For Pan Macmillan, it is a chance to strengthen its list of non-fiction books as well as work closely with the publisher that excels at spotting profitable concepts and authors.