Early next year, Bonnier Books will launch the publishing house GUTKIND Publishers with Jacob Søndergaard as Publishing Director and Jim Zetterlund as CEO. The name of the company comes from the Bonnier family ancestor, the Jewish immigrant Gutkind Hirschel from Dresden, who started his first business in Copenhagen in 1804.

“Denmark will be the seventh market in Europe in which Bonnier will run a publishing business. We view the Nordic countries as our home market, and it is an incredible joy that we are now able to launch an ambitious publishing house in Denmark, which, through its name, gives a nod to our history,” says Håkan Rudels, the CEO of Bonnier Books.

“Bonnier has asked me to create a new Danish publishing house that will focus on quality literature in a broad sense,” says Jacob Søndergaard. “It is a task that I am accepting with gratitude and courage, and I am looking forward to putting together a team and throwing myself at the challenge in early 2020. The current state of the Danish book market calls for new initiatives, and Bonnier has both the resources, willpower and knowhow to create a modern and lasting alternative to existing Danish publishing houses.”

“Initially, we envision a team of five to six employees and about 20-25 book releases a year, and the intention is to grow significantly over the coming years. We agree to keep it simple: Jacob focuses on what is most important, and, 365 days a year, this means the authors, the books and the team, while I focus on everything else,” says Jim Zetterlund.

GUTKIND will publish Danish and translated fiction for adults and also some narrative non fiction, from the new and rare to the established and market-oriented. Quality will be the common denominator. GUTKIND Publishers will meet the challenges of the literary public with responsible publishing standards, experience and innovation.

For 20 years, Jacob Søndergaard has been a central figure in the Danish world of publishing, initially as a literary editor at Lindhardt & Ringhof, from 2006-2008 as the publisher at People’s Press, and since 2008 as editor-in-chief and then publisher at Rosinante & Co.

Jim Zetterlund is COO/CFO at Bonnier Books.

For additional information, please contact
Jim Zetterlund, COO/CFO, Bonnier Books, CEO GUTKIND Publishers
E-mail: jim.zetterlund@bonnierbooks.com / Phone: +46-76 855 96 69

Katarina Arborelius, Head of Corporate Communications
E-mail: katarina.arborelius@bonnierforlagen.se / Phone: +46-8 696 66 90

HAVE A/S
Anja Linnet, Senior Press Advisor
E-mail: anja@have.dk / Phone: +45-22 65 53 48

About Bonnier Books
Bonnier Books gathers Bonnier’s overall book publishing and retail activities, ranging from traditional and digital-first publishing, to quality bookstore chains, paperback retailers and digital subscription services. Bonnier Books consists of Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, Bonnierförlagen, Werner Söderström OY, Bonnier Books Polska, Bonnier Media Deutschland, Bonnier Books UK, BookBeat, Cappelen Damm (50%), Pocket Shop and Semic. Over 2.000 people work within Bonnier Books and we sell around 120 million books per year.