Short news items from the world of book publishing:
08/15/2025
Books Across Borders Announces 2025 Fall Fellows
BAB has announced the four bookshop associates that it will sponsor to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Guadalajara Book Fair this fall.08/15/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of August 11, 2025
Simon & Schuster has inked a deal with Microsoft’s 8080 Books and Macmillan will partner with Gungnir.08/14/2025
YALLFest to Mark 15 Years This Fall
The nation’s largest young adult book festival will return to Charleston, S.C., for its 15th year November 14–15. Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz are among the more than 70 featured YA authors.08/14/2025
NCAC to Host Nationwide Right to Read Night
The National Coalition Against Censorship’s Right to Read Night, slated to take place during Banned Books Week, will culminate in community events across the country, with a focus on Laurie Halse Anderson’s frequently banned novel Chains.08/13/2025
2025 Harvey Award Nominations Announced
Charles Burns and Whitney Gardner are among the 41 nominated authors and illustrators across seven categories for this year’s Harvey Awards. Winners will be announced this October at New York Comic Con.08/13/2025
Westchester Book Festival to Launch This Fall
The inaugural festival, chaired by W.W. Norton VP John Glusman, will be held on November 8 in Katonah, N.Y., featuring such authors as Geraldine Brooks, Bill McKibben, and David Grann. All ticket sale proceeds will benefit local libraries.08/13/2025
Waterstones Snags New Financing
The U.K. bookselling chain has secured £125 million in new financing to support its expansion plans. Waterstones posted sales of £528.4 million in the fiscal year ended April 2024, an increase of 17% increase over fiscal 2023.08/13/2025
Wonderbly to Publish ‘You Can Empower Your Life with Louise Hay’
The late Hay House founder’s self-help book will serve as the basis for the first coedition from the U.K. personalized publisher Wonderbly, which was acquired by Penguin Random House in June, and Hay House, which PRH acquired last year.08/13/2025
DeYoung Named Next President, CEO of Augsburg Fortress
Augsburg Fortress, the Minneapolis-based publisher of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has appointed Andrew DeYoung as its president and CEO, effective September 1, 2026. He succeeds Tim Blevins, who is retiring after 20 years.08/12/2025
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Expand U.K. Reach
The U.S.-based literacy program is continuing to grow its presence abroad, expanding to eight more areas in the city of Wakefield, England, where it has sent nearly 70,000 books to children under five since 2017.08/12/2025
Day of Translation Festival Returns
Katie Kitamura and Jhumpa Lahiri will headline the Center for the Art of Translation’s sixth annual Day of Translation festival, slated for September 18 at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn.08/11/2025
AP to Slash Weekly Book Reviews
In a decision that will widely impact small newspapers, the Associated Press announced it will discontinue its longtime weekly book reviews beginning September 1.08/11/2025
Wendy Sherman Associates Marks 25 Years with Internal Moves
The literary agency has appointed Cherise Fisher (l.) as VP and hired CeCe Lyra (r.), previously of P.S. Literary Agency, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.08/11/2025
Blue Marble Books Up for Immediate Sale
The Cincinnati-area children’s bookstore, which was founded in 1979 and has been on the market since March, is up for immediate sale so its owner can retire.08/07/2025
Little, Brown Buys New Nonfiction from James Patterson and Vicky Ward
Samantha Smith at Little, Brown acquired North American rights to the Idaho Four duo’s as-yet-untitled book about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson from Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly.08/07/2025
Bomb’s Small Press Flea Returns to Brooklyn
The magazine will host its all-day market supporting indie publishers and small presses at the Amant art center in East Williamsburg this coming Saturday.08/06/2025
Bowker Partners with John Marshall Media
The ISBN services company will team with John Marshall Media to offer audiobook production, distribution, and marketing services among its suite of resources for publishers.08/06/2025
Histria Christian Inks Partnership with Logos
Starting this fall, digital Bible study platform Logos will offer a selection of fiction and nonfiction titles from Histria Books’ Histria Christian imprint, helping to “significantly expand” its reach, per the publisher.08/05/2025
Spotify Expands Audiobooks+ to U.S.
Spotify has expanded its Audiobooks+ add-on to the U.S. The feature lets Premium subscribers add 15 additional hours of audiobook listening each month for $11.99.08/04/2025
2025 Sophie Castille Nominees Announced
Ryan Holmberg and Diana Schutz are among this year’s English-language nominees for the graphic novel translation award, presented by VIP Brands, Comica and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.08/04/2025
NEH Announces $34.79 Million for Humanities Projects
The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced nearly $35 million in grants to support 97 projects, many of which celebrate the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary. The latest grant cycle includes the largest grant in agency history.08/04/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of August 4, 2025
Baker & Taylor Publisher Services has inked a deal with Yad Vashem.08/01/2025
DC Comics Veteran Joseph Illidge Launches Illuminous
The graphic novelist and former Batman editor has launched his own production and creative services company, which will develop projects for film, TV, animation, and print.07/31/2025
S&S to Publish Campaign Memoir by Kamala Harris
Jonathan Karp at Simon & Schuster preempted world, audio, and first serial rights to the former vice president’s memoir about her 2024 presidential campaign, 107 Days, from CAA. The book is slated for September 23.07/31/2025
Academy of American Poets Announces 2025 Poet Laureate Fellows
The Academy will award $50,000 fellowships to 23 poets laureate across the U.S., while also providing more than $95,000 in matching grants to 21 local nonprofits collaborating with the 2025 fellows on their work.07/31/2025
Crown Acquires Memoir by John Fetterman
Matt Inman at Crown netted North American rights to the Pennsylvania senator’s memoir, Unfettered, from Eric Simonoff at WME. The book is slated for November 11.07/30/2025
European Publishers Say the EU is Giving In to AI
The Federation of European Publishers is among a coalition of organizations that filed a formal complaint accusing the European Commission of having “sold out” the creative industries to AI companies.07/30/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of July 28, 2025
IPG inks deals with four new publishers, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services inks agreements with Todo Press and Rocndog Books, and more.07/29/2025
Binc Awards 2025 Scholarships for Bookseller Development
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation has announced 11 recipients of two scholarships aimed at supporting professional development and diversity in bookselling.07/28/2025
Cristina Cushing to Head Sourcebooks Sales Strategy
Cushing has joined Sourcebooks from Macmillan, where she was associate director of sales, in the newly created role of director of sales strategy.07/28/2025
Authors Guild Scores Victory in NEH Grant Lawsuit
A New York federal court sided with the Authors Guild in a class action lawsuit filed this May, ruling that the termination of 1,400 grants to scholars and authors by the National Endowment for the Humanities and DOGE was likely unlawful.07/25/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of July 21, 2025
Simon & Schuster has struck a deal with Histria Books, and the Jewish Publication Society teams up with the Hebrew University Magnes Press.07/25/2025
Random House Acquires New George Saunders Novel
Andy Ward at Random House took world rights to the Booker Prize winner’s Vigil from Esther Newberg at CAA. Publication is set for January 27, 2026.07/24/2025
Lauren Ciborski Joins ABA as CFO
Ciborski joins the American Book Association from the Threefold Educational Foundation, where she served as controller for nearly six years.07/24/2025
McGraw Hill’s IPO Fails to Meet Expectations
Shares of McGraw Hill began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today at $17 per share. In its prospectus announcing plans to go public filed July 14, the company had hoped the initial price would be between $19 and $22 per share.07/23/2025
BISG to Offer Introductory Webinar on July 29
The Book Industry Study Group’s new 30-minute webinar will explain how to navigate BISAC subject codes, register for events, access the organization’s Knowledge Center, and more.07/23/2025
WHSmith Snags Large Footprint at JFK Airport
In keeping with its rebrand as the “global travel retailer,” WHSmith North America has claimed 8,400-sq.-ft. of retail space in JFK Airport’s new Terminal 1 in New York.07/23/2025
Marlon James Wins Brooklyn Book Festival’s 2025 BoBi Award
James will be presented with this year’s Best in Brooklyn Award, which celebrates an author whose work “best exemplifies or speaks to the spirit of Brooklyn,” during the 20th annual Brooklyn Book Festival this September.07/23/2025
Amanda Gnecco Named CFO at Alliance
Alliance Entertainment has named Amanda Gnecco chief financial officer. Gnecco has been at Alliance for seven years, and was promoted from chief accounting officer, a role she had held since May 2024.07/23/2025
Kate Zwaard Named Executive Director of CNI
Zwaard joins the Coalition for Networked Information after nearly 15 years with the Library of Congress. She will succeed Clifford Lynch, who died earlier this year.07/22/2025
NYU Opens Registration for Advanced Publishing Institute
New York University’s third annual Advanced Publishing Institute will be held January 5–9, featuring speakers such as Macmillan CEO Jonathan Yaged and Storytel CCO Helena Gustafsson.07/21/2025
BISG Launches AI Survey
A new survey from the Book Industry Study Group aims to better understand how AI is currently being used across the North American book publishing supply chain. Results will be shared in September.07/18/2025
James Tynion IV Book Bundles Benefit Binc
Tiny Onion and Humble Bundle have curated a bundle with 41 titles by the Eisner-winning creator, in collaboration with DC, Boom!, Image, Dark Horse, and Dstlry, to raise funds for Binc.07/17/2025
Comics Stores Drive Graphic Novel Sale Growth
Sales of comics and graphic novels in the U.S. and Canada were around $1.94 billion in 2024, up 4% from $1.87 billion in 2023. The trend is almost entirely driven by sales growth in comic stores, according to a new estimate by ICv2.07/17/2025
Scholastic Appoints Two New Board Members
Former PRH CFO Milena Alberti (l.) and financial services executive Anne Clarke Wolff have been appointed to Scholastic’s board of directors following the retirement of members John L. Davies and David J. Young.07/17/2025
Mass. Coalition Speaks Up for Right to Read
As Massachusetts considers four new Freedom to Read bills, authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, publishers and educators of the newly launched Mass Freedom to Read Coalition will testify at the State House in Boston on July 22.07/17/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of July 14, 2025
Simon & Schuster has struck deals with Dynamite and Penzler, IPG has added five new publishers to its sales and distribution programs, and more.07/16/2025
Lakeside Installs New Printing Press
Lakeside Book Company’s new, 64-page, four-color offset, wide-web press has been installed at its facility in Willard, Ohio, and includes inline control systems with self-correcting features. Lakeside purchased the press in 2024, creating 100 new jobs.07/16/2025
AALA to Hire Inaugural Executive Director
The trade association for American literary agents is looking for a director to take the helm of its operations, including the new People of Publishing conference. AALA president Regina Brooks said the organization hopes to make a hire by early fall.07/15/2025
S&S to Publish Siri Hustvedt’s Memoir of Life with Paul Auster
Carina Guiterman at Simon & Schuster acquired North American rights to Hustvedt’s Ghost Stories from Amanda Urban at CAA. The memoir chronicles her “43-year love story” with Auster, who died of cancer in 2024.News Brief Archive
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