Bleak House bought out

One of my favorite independent mystery-dominated small presses, Bleak House Books, has been bought out by Big Earth Publishing, as reported last night by Publishers Weekly:

Big Earth Publishing has made its third purchase of a small

publisher this year, adding Bleak House Books to its earlier

acquisitions of Johnson Books and Intrigue Press. Based in Madison,

Wisc., Bleak House publishes mysteries and literary fiction and has a

backlist of about 15 books. David Oskin, managing director of Big

Earth, says the combination of Bleak House with Intrigue will boost Big

Earth’s presence in the mystery segment.

Benjamin LeRoy, Bleak House president, will become publisher of the

Bleak House imprint and Alison Janssen will continue as associate

editor. Editorial offices will remain in Madison. Just out from Bleak

House is The Blood Knot, the second fly-fishing mystery from John Galligan which earned a positive review in this week’s PW.

It should be interesting how this affects the press-turned-imprint, if at all, but I’m already excited for some of their upcoming offerings — including a new series by Tony Spinosa and Jon Jordan’s next volume of INTERROGATIONS. I’m even hearing they might be reeling in a major league author or two, and perhaps this will become more of a reality if Big Earth has more money to pony up…