Open Road Integrated Media
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital media, Ebook publishing |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Jane Friedman, Jeffrey Sharp |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | David Steinberger (CEO) |
| Products | Ebook versions of backlist fiction and nonfiction titles |
| Website | www |
Open Road Integrated Media (abbreviated as ORIM and branded as OR/M) is a digital media firm headquartered in New York City, established in 2009 by Jane Friedman and Jeffrey Sharp. The company focuses on producing ebook versions of backlist fiction and nonfiction titles. ORIM manages the publishing house Open Road Media along with several content properties such as Early Bird Books, The Lineup, The Archive, Murder & Mayhem, A Love So True, and The Portalist.
In 2021, an investment consortium including Abry Partners, MEP Capital, and Grove Atlantic, together with publishing leader David Steinberger—previously CEO of Perseus Books Group and Arcadia Publishing—acquired ORIM. Steinberger assumed the role of CEO in 2022.
History
Open Road Integrated Media was founded by ex-HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman and film producer Jeffrey Sharp with the goal of digitizing and revitalizing backlist titles while collaborating with current authors. Its collection comprises works by distinguished writers such as William Styron, Pat Conroy, Joan Didion, Alice Walker, and Michael Chabon.
In 2011, HarperCollins initiated legal action against Open Road regarding ebook rights to Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, contesting whether contracts signed before the ebook era included digital rights. A 2014 judicial decision ruled in favor of HarperCollins, confirming that digital rights had been transferred to the publisher.
Following the acquisitions of independent publishers E-Reads and Premier Digital in 2014, Open Road broadened its inventory to approximately 10,000 titles by 2015. Industry veteran Paul Slavin joined as president in 2015 and was promoted to CEO in 2016.
In 2016, Open Road formed a partnership with OverDrive, Inc. to provide browser-based ebooks for elementary school libraries.
In July 2021, ORIM expanded by acquiring Bloodhound Books, a UK-based ebook publisher, while retaining its existing co-directors. That year also saw David Steinberger lead an investor group to purchase Open Road for an estimated $60–80 million; he took over as CEO in January 2022.
In May 2023, Open Road introduced the Re-Discovery Lit imprint aimed at reissuing out-of-print works using proprietary machine learning tools to identify target audiences. This program features authors such as Barbara Delinsky and Roger Angell.
Imprints
- Re-Discovery Lit
- Open Road Media
- Open Road Media Young Readers
- Bloodhound Books