Short news items from the world of book publishing:
07/27/2021
London Book Fair Attracted Participants from 90 Countries
The London Book Fair, which converted to an all-virtual show for the second time and ran through the month of June, attracted participants from 90 countries and touted a growth in social media engagement of 62%.07/23/2021
'PW' News Editor Wins NYPC Award
John Maher, the news and digital editor at 'Publishers Weekly,' has won the New York Press Club's 2021 Critical Arts Review award for internet writing for his work coediting "The 100 Sequences That Shaped Animation" for 'Vulture' last year.07/23/2021
Belarus Moves to Dissolve Local Branch of PEN
On the same day PEN Belarus released a report showing in increase in cultural rights violations in the country, the government moved to dissolve the organization.07/22/2021
Boo, Collins, Daniszewski to Co-Chair Pulitzer Prize Board
Author and journalist Katherine Boo, 'New York Times' opinion columnist Gail Collins, and Associated Press v-p and editor-at-large for standards John Daniszewski have been elected as co-chairs of the Pulitzer Prize Board.07/22/2021
Obama and Springsteen Team on New Book
Penguin Random House will publish 'Renegades: Born in the USA' by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen on October 26.07/21/2021
ABA Makes Initial Examinations of Two Recent Issues
American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill stated on Tuesday that a preliminary investigation has been completed into two recent controversial incidents.07/21/2021
'New York Journal of Books' Changes Daily Operations
The 'New York Journal of Books' will now conduct all work virtually, and has changed its address for the delivery of review copies. Lisa Rojany, publisher and editor-in-chief, is now overseeing all day-to-day operations.07/20/2021
Beacon to Produce, Distribute Histria Audiobooks
Histria Books has entered an audiobook agreement with Beacon Audiobooks, which will produce and distribute audiobook versions of print titles from Histria's catalog.07/19/2021
PRH to Publish Memoir by Prince Harry
Penguin Random House will publish a forthcoming memoir by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, which is tentatively scheduled for late 2022. Terms for the worldwide agreement were not disclosed.07/19/2021
Knopf to Publish New Emily St. John Mandel Novel Next Year
The 'Station Eleven' novelist's forthcoming book, 'Sea of Tranquility,' is due next April.07/19/2021
New Press Awards Raskin Social Justice Award
Congressman Jamie Raskin will receive a New Press Social Justice Award for "upholding democratic norms and the rule of law in the House’s prosecution of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial for inciting the January 6 insurrection."07/16/2021
Printer Raises Minimum Wage to $15
CJK Group, which is based in Minnesota, has permanently raised its hourly minimum wage to $15 per hour.07/16/2021
SAGE to Sponsor Nine Universal Write Titles
SAGE Publishing will sponsor nine new titles to be published by Universal Write Publications (UWP), a Black-owned social science publishing company.07/14/2021
Clarkson Potter Unveils 'NYTBR' Collection
Tina Jordan, deputy editor of the 'New York Times Book Review,' sold an anniversary compilation title of the literary insert to Clarkson Potter. The book will publish this November.07/14/2021
Coates, Lucas Change Stores at 57th Street, Seminary
Manager Sonja Coates moves from 57th Street Books to Seminary Co-op, while Bryce Lucas moves from the latter to the former.07/13/2021
NYFA Awards 17 NY Fiction Writers
The New York Foundation for the Arts has announced the 17 recipients in the fiction category of this year's annual NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program.07/13/2021
Center for Fiction Announces 2021 First Novel Prize Longlist
The 27 titles were selected by 116 volunteer readers from 143 submissions. The winner will receive a $15,000 prize, with each of the other shortlisted authors receiving $1,000.07/13/2021
Lil’ Libros Raises $2.3M in Crowdfunded Investment
Launched in 2014 by two Latina mothers, Lil’ Libros, a bilingual children’s publisher, has raised $2.3 million in equity funding via WeFunder, a crowdfunding site that allows the public to make small equity investments and get a return.07/12/2021
Parul Sehgal to Leave the 'Times' for the 'New Yorker'
Parul Sehgal, 'New York Times' book critic and a senior editor and columnist at the 'New York Times Book Review,' will join the 'New Yorker' as a staff writer in September.07/12/2021
AK Press Launches the Black Dawn Fiction Series
The independent publisher, which specializes in radical left literature, has announced plans to launch the Black Dawn fiction series, a line of progressive speculative fiction that will explore anti-racist, feminist, and LGBTQ issues.07/09/2021
Duke, DUP Workers Union at Impasse
Duke University and its university press have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to hold a new election to determine whether its staff can unionize. The DUP Workers Union is calling foul play.07/09/2021
Podium, Saga Egmont Ink Audio Deal
Podium Audio and Saga Egmont have signed a multi-year agreement to publish several of Podium Audio's bestselling titles initially in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Polish.07/09/2021
Erroll McDonald Named V-p, Executive Editor at Knopf
McDonald, who has acquired books for Pantheon and Knopf since 1990, will now do so exclusively for Knopf.07/09/2021
Funches Named Director of Retail Sales at Z2 Comics
Devin Funches has been named director of retail sales at Z2 Comics, an indie graphic novel publisher, and will head up the publisher’s newly expanded direct market and direct-to-consumer distribution.07/09/2021
Robinson Joins Tapas Media
Chris Robinson, a writer, producer, and former editor at Marvel Comics, has been appointed to the newly created position of exclusives partnerships manager at Tapas Media, a mobile comics platform.07/08/2021
HarperCollins Expands Agreement with Jeffrey Archer
The publisher, which already owns Italian and world English rights to Jeffrey Archer’s William Warwick series, has taken over publication of the titles in several additional markets.07/08/2021
French Voices Grand Prize Winners Announced
'The Mediterranean Wall' by Louis Philippe Dalembert (Schaffner Press) and 'Affluence and Freedom' by Pierre Charbonnier (Polity Press) have won the 2020 French Voices Grand Prizes.07/02/2021
Hank Phillippi Ryan to Host Mystery Interview Series
Mystery author Hank Phillippi Ryan is joining digital literary platform A Mighty Blaze as host of the weekly “Mighty Mystery” live author interview series. Since launching in 2020, the platform has hosted more than 300 author interviews.07/01/2021
Bookwire to Distribute Planeta's Digital Products
Germany's Bookwire has taken over global distribution for digital products for Spanish publishing house Editorial Planeta, covering 30,000 e-books and 1,200 audiobooks.06/30/2021
S&S Offers Job Preview Program to Graduates
Starting July 12, Simon & Schuster is running a week-long Publishing Prologue program, which will offer 25 recent graduates a behind-the-scenes look at day-to-day careers in book publishing at S&S.06/29/2021
New PEN Report Highlights Turkey's Free Expression Issues
A new white paper published by PEN America spotlights the threat to writers and others in Turkey, which is now the "third-worst jailer of writers globally."06/29/2021
NYRB, Dorothy Partner on Distribution
Dorothy, a Publishing Project and New York Review Books have entered an agreement, effective next February, under which Dorothy’s titles will appear in NYRB's catalogs and be distributed and sold by Penguin Random House Publisher Services.06/28/2021
B.B. Alston Wins B&N Children's & Young Adult Book Awards
'Amari and the Night Brothers' by B.B. Alston was selected as the overall winner of this year's inaugural Barnes & Noble Children’s & YA Book Awards.06/28/2021
Majumdar Named Editor-in-Chief at Catapult
Megha Majumdar has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Catapult, effective immediately.06/28/2021
Von Drasek Zoom Memorial Scheduled for June 29
A memorial service for the late publishing industry executive Paul Von Drasek will be held via Zoom on Tuesday.06/23/2021
Jonathan Lee Joins Bloomsbury as Editorial Director
Jonathan Lee will join Bloomsbury as editorial director, a newly created role. Lee is joining Bloomsbury from Catapult Books, where he was editor-in-chief. Lee is author of two novels, 'The Great Mistake' and 'High Dive.'06/22/2021
PRHPS Adds Victory Belt Publishing
Penguin Random House Publisher Services has signed a multi-year sales and distribution agreement with Victory Belt Publishing, an independent publisher of books on nutrition, fitness, general health, and personal development.06/21/2021
ABA's Children's Institute Moves to August
The American Booksellers Association’s ninth annual Children’s Institute (Ci9), originally scheduled for June 14–16, will now take place August 30–September 1.06/18/2021
PRH Launches All Ways Black
PRH is expanding its Amplify Black Stories program with a new social media and content channel called All Ways Black, which is curated by Cree Myles.06/18/2021
Lacey Wins 2021 Young Lions Award
Catherine Lacey has won the 21st annual Young Lions Fiction Award, presented annually by the New York Public Library, for her book 'Pew.'06/18/2021
Virtual London Book Fair Starts Monday
The London Book Fair's virtual seminar program starts on Monday, June 21, and will run through July 1. Yomi Adegoke, coauthor of 'Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible,' will offer a keynote on diversity in publishing.06/17/2021
Holt to Publish New Michael Wolff Book
Henry Holt will publish Michael Wolff’s new book, 'Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency,' on July 27, 2021.06/17/2021
New Home Library Project Launches in NYC
House of Speakeasy, the National Book Foundation, and the New York City Housing Authority have launched a new program to distribute books to underserved communities in multiple boroughs across New York City.06/17/2021
Rich Named Tapas Media Editor-in-Chief
Novelist, comics writer, and veteran comics editor Jamie S. Rich, previously a DC group editor, has been named editor-in-chief of Tapas Media effective June 21.06/16/2021
Broadside Buys Book by Jared Kushner
HarperCollins's Broadside Books imprint has acquired a book by Jared Kushner that it is billing as "the definitive account of the Trump presidency."06/14/2021
Carr Named Senior Director of Publisher Relations at Tapas Media
Alex R. Carr, a former group editor at DC Entertainment, has been appointed senior director of publisher relations at Tapas Media, a digital comics platform offering vertical scroll webcomics for mobile devices.06/11/2021
BIGNY June Event to Spotlight Library-Publisher Relationships
On June 22, the Book Industry Guild of New York will host a conversation focusing on the instrumental role libraries have played in providing accessibility, literacy, and community-building for readers.06/11/2021
AAWW Announces 2021 Publishing Conference
The Asian American Writers' Workshop's Page Turner conference, to be held on June 26, will feature a keynote address from Matthew Salesses and panels on equity in publishers' editorial departments, podcasts, and more.06/11/2021
Destroyed Gaza Bookstore Receives Donations
Books2Door, an online children's bookstore in the U.K., has donated 1,000 books to the Samir Mansour Bookstore in Gaza, destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in May. A GoFundMe has raised $200,000 for the store to rebuild.06/10/2021
Nominations Announced for 2021 Will Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards, honoring the best comics of the year, announced this year's nominees, which are led by publishers Image and Fantagraphics, with 17 and 18 respectively, and cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, who led all artists with five.News Brief Archive
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