Short news items from the world of book publishing:
12/04/2020
'Luster' Wins Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize
The Center for Fiction awarded its First Novel Prize, which recognizes the year’s best debut novel and carries a $15,000 award, to 'Luster' by Raven Leilani at its virtual annual awards benefit on December 3.12/04/2020
'World of Wonders' Chosen 2020 B&N Book of the Year
Barnes & Noble's booksellers have chosen Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s 'World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments' as the winner of Barnes & Noble’s 2020 Book of the Year.12/04/2020
History of the Aztecs Wins Cundill History Prize
Camilla Townsend, a professor at Rutgers University, won the 2020 Cundill History Prize for 'Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs' (Oxford). She receives $75,000, the largest monetary prize for a nonfiction book in English.12/03/2020
HCCP to Expand Bible Business with Brand Acquisition
As part of an effort to expand its Bibles business, HarperCollins Christian Publishing acquired the Thompson Chain-Reference Bible brand, with new editions slated for publication under its Zondervan umbrella in May 2021.12/03/2020
Booktopia Starts Trading on Australian Stock Exchange
Booktopia, the largest independent online bookseller in Australia, started selling shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) at an offer price of AUS$2.30 per share, raising AUS$41 million ($30 million).12/02/2020
Conners Named Executive Director at BOA
Peter Connors, publisher of BOA Editions, has added executive director to his title.12/02/2020
Morgan James Adopts New Bundling Option
Morgan James Publishing has launched a bundling option which offers readers who purchase a physical book a free electronic version of that book.
12/02/2020
Riky Stock Leaves Frankfurt for NorthSouth
Riky Stock will leave the German Book Office/Frankfurt Book Fair New York for NorthSouth Books, where she will take over as managing director on December 8.12/02/2020
'No Filter' Wins FT/McKinsey Biz Book of the Year
Sarah Frier's 'No Filter: The Inside Story of How Instagram Transformed Business, Celebrity and Our Culture' won the £30,000 Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Business Book of the Year Award 2020.12/02/2020
Forde to Oversee International Rights at Transatlantic Agency
Transatlantic Agency in Toronto has named agent Carolyn Forde a partner in the agency. She will be leading the company's new division focused on selling international rights for adult books.12/01/2020
Portal Books Launches Monolith Imprint
Portal Books, the independent genre fiction publisher launched in 2017, has launched a new science fiction/fantasy imprint, Monolith12/01/2020
HBG Lifts Starting Pay
Beginning February 2021, Hachette Book Group will raise entry level salaries to $45,000 in its most expensive locations. Salaries in locations with lower cost of living will increase to $41,000.12/01/2020
SMP to Publish Mary L. Trump's Next Book
Mary L. Trump, author of the bestseller 'Too Much and Never Enough' (Simon & Schuster) and the niece of President Trump, is set to publish a new book with St. Martin's Press, 'The Reckoning,' in 2021.11/30/2020
Pop-Up Magazine Goes to Print
The live performance "magazine" has put together its first "Issue in a Box," a physical adaptation of Pop-Up's in-person shows.11/25/2020
Obama Memoir Sells 1.7 Million Copies in First Week
Barack Obama's presidential memoir 'A Promised Land,' sold 1,710,443 units in all formats and editions in the U.S. and Canada during its first week of publication and now has 4.3 million copies in print, according to its publisher, Penguin Random House.11/23/2020
Charlaine Harris, Jeffery Deaver Named 2021 MWA Grand Masters
The board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America has chosen Charlaine Harris and Jeffery Deaver as the MWA's 2021 Grand Masters, and Malice Domestic as the 2020 Raven Award recipient.11/23/2020
PRH Brings Back Holiday Hotline, Partners with WNDB
Penguin Random House's gift-giving book recommendation service will return for two weeks this year beginning on December 2. We Need Diverse Books has partnered with the publisher on the program.11/23/2020
University of New Mexico Press Launches High Road Books
The University of New Mexico Press has launched High Road Books, a new imprint "dedicated to thoughtful, stylish, provocative fiction and nonfiction with western roots and national appeal."11/23/2020
Oxford Announces 'Words of an Unprecedented Year' for 2020
In lieu of announcing its typical single word reflecting "the ethos, mood, or preoccupations" of the past twelve months, Oxford Languages has broadened its scope for its 2020 Word of the Year.11/23/2020
Canadian CEOs Ask for Bookstores to Be Labeled Essential
Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books & Music, and Kristin Cochrane, CEO of Penguin Random House Canada, wrote a letter asking the Ontario government to allow bookstores to remain open during the new lockdown.11/23/2020
UAE's Al Qasimi Is New IPA President
The International Publishers Association has voted in Bodour Al Qasimi of Kalimat Group as president, and confirmed Karine Pansa of Girassol Brasil Edições in Brazil as v-p elect.11/20/2020
Ahmad to Leave Akashic, Named Exec Editor at Viking
After two decades at Akashic Books, Ibrahim Ahmad, the Brooklyn indie press's editorial director, will join Viking as executive editor effective January 11, reporting to Andrea Schulz.11/20/2020
Seven Seas, PRH Publisher Services Ink Distribution Pact
Penguin Random House Publisher Services has reached a multi-year worldwide sales and distribution agreement with Seven Seas Entertainment, an independent manga publisher based in Los Angeles.11/19/2020
LBS to Acquire Gane Brothers & Lane
LBS, a manufacturer and distributor of book production and luxury packing materials, will acquire the assets of plastic fabrication company Gane Brothers & Lane.11/19/2020
powerHouse Books Relocates to Industry City, BK
After 15 years in Dumbo, powerHouse Books will move its headquarters to Industry City, in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, upon the opening of its new bookstore in the same complex.11/19/2020
SK Global, Mazur Kaplan Set Five Book Projects for Adaptation
Entertainment company SK Global and Los Angeles–based production company the Mazur Kaplan Company have announced five new book adaptation projects.11/19/2020
HMH to Publish Tolkien's Final Middle-earth Writings
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media will publish 'The Nature of Middle-earth,' an unpublished collection of writing by J.R.R. Tolkien, in the U.S. on June 24, 2021.11/19/2020
PRHI to Distribute for Pippa Rann
Indian publisher Pippa Rann Books & Media has entered a sales and distribution agreement Penguin Random House India.11/18/2020
IPG to Distribute for TOKYOPOP
Independent Publishers Group will distribute for TOKYOPOP, the publishing arm of POP Media Holdings, and the company that established the market for manga in North America and introduced the term to the English language.11/18/2020
Annysa Polanco Named Director of DEI at PRH, Board-Level Hire to Follow
Annysa Polanco has been promoted to director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Penguin Random House, effective immediately. In addition, PRH will hire for a new board-level diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership position.11/18/2020
Peter Osnos Launches Platform Books
Publishing industry veteran Peter Osnos is launching Platform Books LLC, a new imprint, and will publish his own memoir, 'An Especially Good View,' in May 2021.11/17/2020
Harper, Tarantino Ink Two-Book Deal
Academy Award–winning filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has signed a two-book deal with Harper.11/16/2020
David Ebershoff Returns to Little Random
Author and publishing veteran David Ebershoff will return to the Random House imprint as v-p and executive editor, primarily acquiring and editing for the Hogarth list, effective January 4.11/16/2020
Harvard Bookstore Reopens After Covid Scare
The Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass., reopened on Friday after it was closed for two days due to a member of the staff testing positive for Covid-19. Staff who worked with the infected person will remain home until they test negative.11/13/2020
B&N Names 2020 Book of the Year Finalists
Barnes & Noble has named the finalists for its second annual Barnes & Noble Book of the Year, which will be announced next month after its booksellers vote on the winner.11/12/2020
RGG.com to Host Virtual Book Group Speed Dating
ReadingGroupGuides.com will host a virtual event with representatives from 18 publishers, who share selections from their publishing houses via video to give booksellers, librarians, and book group leaders an inside look at new and upcoming titles.11/12/2020
Penguin to Publish Trump Book by 'Times' Reporter
Penguin Press has acquired an as-yet-untitled book on Donald Trump by 'New York Times' reporter Maggie Haberman. It will chronicle Trump's political years in New York City, his two campaigns, and his presidency, and will be published in early 2022.11/12/2020
Booker Prize Ceremony to Feature Barack Obama
The Booker Prize ceremony will be livestreamed next Thursday, November 19, on various BBC sites and will feature a guest appearance from Barack Obama.11/12/2020
ABA's 2021 Winter Institute Will Be Virtual
The American Booksellers Association’s 2021 Winter Institute will now be held virtually from Feb. 18 to Feb. 20. Registration will open on Jan. 7.11/12/2020
ABA's 2021 Winter Institute Will Be Virtual
The American Booksellers Association’s 2021 Winter Institute will now be held virtually from Thursday, February 18, through Saturday, February 20. Registration will open on Thursday, January 7, 2021.11/11/2020
Inaugural PEN America/L’Engle-Rahman Prize for Mentorship Recipients Announced
Four mentor/mentee pairs have received the prize, named for the late author Madeleine L’Engle and her 10-year written friendship with scholar, writer, and former Black Party leader Ahmad Rahman.11/11/2020
STA to Represent Baker & Taylor in Southeastern U.S.
Southern Territory Associates will serve as sales representatives for Baker & Taylor Publisher Services’ publisher partners in the Southeastern U.S., as well as select Southern states, effective January 1.11/10/2020
Rodale Inks Deal with Goop
Penguin Random House’s Rodale Books imprint is the new publishing partner for Goop Press, the book imprint of Goop, the lifestyle brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow.11/10/2020
Binc Launches First Online Holiday Gift Guide
The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation has launched its first-ever holiday gift guide, which includes items that give back to Binc in order to support booksellers in need, as well as unique items from more than 30 indie bookstores.11/10/2020
2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist
15 titles are in the running for the $35,000 award, which recognizes fiction that "addresses vital contemporary issues."11/09/2020
Our Daily Bread Names New V-p, Publisher
Chriscynethia Floyd, a former executive at Simon & Schuster and David C Cook, has been hired as v-p and publisher of Our Daily Bread Ministries.11/09/2020
Drop In Student Spending on College Course Materials Continues
Average student spending on college textbooks and course materials continued to decline during the fall semester of 2020, dropping 7% compared to the same term last year, according to a preview of the latest data from an independent research firm.11/09/2020
The 'Common' Partners with Penguin Classics On Annual Postcard Auction
In addition to the handwritten, personalized postcards by authors typically available for bidding in the lit mag's yearly auction, certain bidders will receive free books from Penguin Classics in honor of the 10th anniversary of the 'Common.'11/09/2020
AUPresses Aims to 'Raise UP' Constituents During UP Week
The Association of University Presses has chosen “Raise UP” as the theme for this year’s University Press Week, which runs from November 9 through November 15.11/06/2020
Sciambra, Trocker, Donahue Up at Atria
Lisa Sciambra, Dana Trocker, and Suzanne Donahue have been promoted in a series of changes in the Atria publicity and marketing department.News Brief Archive
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