A group of left-leaning Hachette employees slammed the launch of a new conservative imprint, dubbed “Basic LIberty” — as well as the hiring of a conservative publisher to run it.
Hachette Books Group and Hachette UK boss David Shelley announced on Nov. 7 — two days after Donald Trump won the presidential election — that the Basic Books Group would be adding the Basic Liberty imprint.
At the time, the new entity as “a new conservative imprint that will publish serious works of cultural, social, and political analysis by conservative writers of original thought.”
uproar at Hachette. Linkedin / Thomas Spence
Shelley said the imprint “will represent a wide range of conservative perspectives, focusing on topics of enduring interest rather than transitory political concerns” and that it will be run by Thomas Spence, who is currently a visiting fellow at the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation.
In their letter posted to the Instagram account xoxopublishingg, Hachette staffers said they stand in “firm disapprobation of the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and any conservative movement or thought that strips away sacred rights and the humanity of people.”
Employees said they “disavow David Shelley’s unsympathetic and insensitive remarks,” which were made shortly after the election which left many “reeling” from Trump’s decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a statement to Publisher’s Weekly, HBG said: “Hachette Book Group’s mission is to reach a broad spectrum of readers by making it easier for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment, and opportunity. We publish books from all sides of the political debate.”
Basic Liberty is not HBG’s first conservative imprint. Center Street, an imprint of HBG’s Grand Central Publishing division, publishes “the top conservative voices for politics, business, and military,” its Instagram bio says.
Still, the recent announcement has caused uproar inside with at least one Hachette employee — Alex DiFrancesco, an editor at the Hachette UK imprint Jessica Kingsley Publishers — announced their resignation via X.
Spence spent more than 11 years running Regenery where he acquired books on buzzy cultural issues often discussed by conservatives. Those books included: “Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America”: by Ted Cruz.
Books Group. Hachette Book Group
Spence also published “Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing” by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis; and Abigail Shrier’s controversial book “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.”
He also acquired Senator Josh Hawley’s book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech,” after it was dropped by Simon & Schuster following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, which many viewed the senator as being partly responsible for inciting.
Although Shelley’s remarks were not exactly “unsympathetic” or “insensitive” in nature, employees took issue with the timing of the announcement, just days after the election.
“We condemn HBG’s decision to put profit before its own people, to let the promise of financial gain overtake morality and conscience, and to platform a person who contributes to the advancement of the Heritage Foundation’s vision for America,” the letter continued.
“We are calling on HBG to recognize the responsibility it has as one of the world’s leading publishers, to act with empathy and compassion for all people, and to reevaluate its decision to move forward with the creation of Basic Liberty and the hiring of Thomas Spence,” the letter concluded.
