Pickering & Chatto- information needed

I have been contacted by some P&C authors and former editors. I'm posting now because we as an academic community all need much more information about what is happening. Like Ashgate Publishing, independent Academic Publisher Pickering & Chatto was also purchased by Informa in 2015. Pickering & Chatto also specializes in humanities and social sciences with strong lists in Early Modern Studies. However, the situation there is very different. Their website, pickeringchatto.com  now forwards to a Routledge page. The former detailed online catalogue has been posted in a different organizational scheme with much less information present about books. Authors report that their book prices have also been raised to $150 without prior notice and review copies are no longer being sent out. Worst of all,  authors are getting auto-replies and bounced email messages from the editors they are trying to contact and those they've spoken with at Informa offices do not yet have any information about who is now in charge of their books.

Pickering & Chatto seems to have been completely and absolutely absorbed by Routledge. But how can Routledge claim to be able to better market P&C titles to a global audience when these are their first actions?

I am pasting below the notice Informa sent to Pickering & Chatto authors about their acquisition of the press.  If you have additional information about what is happening at P&C that you feel safe making public please send it in.


_________________

Dear [name of author]:

 I am writing to let you know that the Taylor & Francis Group have acquired Pickering & Chatto Publishers.

 Taylor & Francis, through its Routledge imprint, is a leading book and journal publisher in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology, Behavioural Sciences and Health, and Built Environment subject areas. Please take a few minutes to visit our website: www.routledge.com

We  are confident this will be a positive move for authors. Please be assured that your contractual and other arrangements are unaffected by the change in ownership. All agreements will be honoured in full.  Routledge pride ourselves on the highest standards, as well as a friendly and personable service and we are committed to developing strong and flexible partnerships that offer you many benefits: 

Thorough evaluation of proposals and sample material, with constructive feedback provided by experienced editors and peer reviewers       
Involvement and support from your editorial team throughout the writing and development process
Consultation on design, production, and marketing
High-quality book production
Creation of e-books and other online products to provide content in formats that customers want – print and digital
Global promotion, marketing, sales and distribution for each title supported by our main offices in New York and Florida in the US, in Oxfordshire in the UK,  and in Singapore, New Delhi, and Beijing.

We are now in a transition period where the book titles will be transferred to our systems and details of the books will appear on the Routledge website. However day-to-day business and sales to customers will continue as usual and the books will remain available from Pickering & Chatto.

For now, any questions about the transition should be directed to Rob Langham at robert.langham@tandf.co.uk

We are delighted to have you as one of our authors and we welcome you to Routledge.

 Yours sincerely,

Jeremy North

Managing Director – Routledge Books

jeremy.north@informa.com

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7017 6197