It has been a year since Forefront Books and Histria Books teamed up to purchase a majority stake in the U.K.-based Unicorn Publishing Group. In the process, the company formed the Unified Publishing Group (UPG), which is being led by Forefront president and CEO Jonathan Merkh. The move has given Merkh the opportunity to spearhead an international hybrid publishing ecosystem, alongside UPG COO and Histria director Kurt Brackob, and Unicorn chairman Lord Strathcarron.

Forefront is one of America’s most prominent hybrid publishers, while Unicorn does a mix of hybrid and traditionally published titles. (Histria is strictly a traditional publisher). Merkh has spent a fair amount of time in Unicorn’s London office since the deal closed, as the the hybrid model—which the British call funded publishing—is not as well accepted in the U.K. as it is in the U.S.

“I’m trying to bring legitimacy to hybrid publishing in the U.K.,” Merkh said, adding that agents and ghostwriters are beginning to see value in the model, particularly for nonfiction.

An important reason behind establishing UPG is to fast-track the creation of an international distribution network.

Under the leadership of Brackob, Merkh’s goal is to establish “a strong export distribution business worldwide,” noting that it is very difficult for indie publishers of all kinds to get their books distributed abroad. The ability to offer authors international distribution, Merkh believes, will give Forefront an edge over other hybrid publishers.

This is in keeping with Merkh’s philosophy to do whatever he can to help authors sell their books. He notes that unlike most traditional publishers, he sells books back to authors at a steep discount.

“Authors are the greatest marketer of their books,” he said. “I have no problem letting them take the lion’s share of the sales and we’ll take a cut.”

Many of Forefront’s authors come from the business world, and business books have been key to Forefront’s success. While some retailers believe business books are a dying category, Merkh blames it on a lack of support from physical retailers.

“I believe that business books authors are the tip of the spear for the hybrid market,” he said. “Business book authors are very entrepenurial and are finding other ways to sell a book rather than through retailers” such as Barnes & Noble, Merkh said.

As a result, Merkh said sales of Forefront’s business books made by authors are growing, while declining at B&N and Amazon. He believes the author-driven sales formula could show up in other categories, such as memoir.

Merkh acknowledges that most fiction authors still prefer to work with traditional publishers, but he sees that slowly beginning to change, noting that Forefront could publish as many as 10 novels this year. The company also recently had its first #1 bestseller in Canada with former NHL star Chris Pronger’s Earned reaching the top spot on the Toronto Star list. “I think that will open up some options for us in Canada,” Merkh said.

In addition to the Toronto Start bestseller, Forefront has had 13 New York Times bestsellers and Merkh is hoping for another this week.

While Merkh is splitting his time between the U.S. and U.K., Becky Nesbit, Forefront’s group publisher, is overseeing day-to-day operations. Forefront had a 14% sales increase in 2025 and is publishing 75 titles in 2026, which Merkh expects to bring a record year.

Partnerships have always been a key part of Forefront’s strategy, and this spring it announced an agreement with Kahliah Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, to launch a new children's imprint, Butterfly & Bee Press. The imprint, aimed at publishing “uplifiting, purpose driven books,” will release its first title next spring with Ali's Float Like a Butterfly and Learn Like Me. Ali will be the point person to look for other books that fit the imprint’s mission.

As bullish as Merkh is on hybrid publishing he acknowledges “there are some bad players,” and that some guardrails are necessary. That is one reason he joined the Independent Book Publishers Association board, noting he believes IBPA is the best resource to help authors navigate various publishing choices.

Still, hybrid publishing has made enough inroads in recent years that Merkh—who had a long run in the tradtional publishing space prior to Forefront—is confident it will remain a solid part of the three-legged publishing stool, which also includes traditionally published authors and self publishers.