Former Knopf CEO Reagan Arthur returns to her former publisher, Hachette Book Group

“I couldn’t be happier to be returning to the Hachette colleagues and authors I admire so much,” Arthur said in a statement released by Hachette on Thursday. One of the industry’s most beloved executives, Arthur was previously senior vice president/publisher of Hachette’s Little, Brown and Company division. She has worked on best-sellers by Tina Fey, Malcolm Gladwell, David Sedaris and many others. At Knopf, she oversaw the publication of Jayne Anne Phillips’ “Night Watch,” this year’s winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Arthur’s imprint at Hachette is expected to publish four to six books per year, both commercial and literary.

“I am delighted to welcome Reagan back to Hachette,” Hachette CEO David Shelley said in a statement. “She is one of the most legendary editors and publishers, and also one of the funniest and most collegial people to work with.”

Arthur left Hachette in 2020 when she succeeded longtime Knopf publisher Sonny Mehta, who died the previous year. She and her colleague Lisa Lucas were laid off in May for what the publisher called financial reasons. Lucas had headed Pantheon/Schocken, which, like Knopf, is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.