Transit Publishing was founded in March 2009, and immediately made a splash in the publishing world with two heavily-publicized bestsellers.

The first was the only biography of an international show-business icon, Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, who in 25 years has risen from performing in the streets to become one of the richest men on the planet.

Then came the greatest scoop in Canadian publishing history. Transit published Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson just days after Jackson’s untimely death. This account of the five-year investigation by journalist Ian Halperin into the tortured life of the King of Pop quickly found itself an international bestseller, topping lists in Canada (Globe and Mail) and France (L’Express and Livres Hebdo) and making it to number one on the New York Times bestseller list in the U.S.

In the press release announcing its launch, Transit stated that “linguistic and cultural barriers existed only to be surmounted and broken.” Less than six months later, thanks to its bestselling books and its distribution partners, Transit Publishing has gone global, with large print runs for its main markets: Canada, the U.S., the UK, and French-speaking Europe. Transit also sells rights to its works in approximately twenty languages around the world, in markets ranging from China to Brazil.

Transit intends to build on its success by continuing to produce works of cutting-edge investigative journalism. In the weeks and months to come, we will publish, among others, a biography of Kiefer “Jack Bauer” Sutherland, a look at what secrets lurk behind the hype surrounding the celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, plus an unvarnished take on the phenomenon of Britney Spears.

Transit is also exploring other genres with its spring 2010 release of a series of detective novels, starting with the shocking tale of vigilante serial killers Blood for Blood, and in June the World War II thriller Hitler’s Boat. Also in June, Transit is introducing the first of its health and lifestyle books, the provocative Looking Good Naked?

The majority of titles published by Transit will be launched simultaneously in American, Canadian, and European markets in French and English. This is in keeping with our original vision, crossing the barriers of language and culture to deliver new voices to readers, a vision that has now become an exciting reality.

Pierre Turgeon
President and Publisher Transit Publishing Inc.