Michael Pietsch, Hachette Book Group CEO, announced on October 23rd that Rolf Zettersten, Publisher of Hachette Nashville, will be retiring. Zettersten will continue to lead the Nashville division’s five imprints until a successor is named shortly.
Rolf joined the company in July 2000 to establish a Christian publishing program, opening a Nashville office and launching an imprint that would eventually become FaithWords. Several of FaithWords biggest bestselling authors – Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, and Wm. Paul Young – are among the most popular names in Christian publishing.
In 2004, Rolf introduced Center Street, publishing bestselling general market authors like John C. Maxwell, Mike Huckabee, Karen Kingsbury, Nelson DeMille, and Robert Edsel. In 2017, Center Street was refocused as a conservative political and military imprint that has been home to a number of bestsellers.
In 2018 Rolf played a key role in bringing Worthy Publishing into the Nashville Division.
“I am profoundly grateful to my Hachette colleagues and to the wonderful authors and agents with whom I have worked,” Zettersten said. “It’s been a remarkable career and I am cheering for the continued growth and development of this program which means so much to me.”
“I want to thank Rolf for leading the Nashville division to reach remarkable heights with their publishing programs – selling more than 100 million copies since the division’s inception – and for his many contributions as a member of the Executive Management Board,” expressed Michael Pietsch, Hachette Book Group CEO.
