One of the few big trade publishers to not cut jobs since the recession hit last fall, Penguin UK is now taking some of the steepest cuts of any UK publisher (both Random UK and HarperCollins UK had significant layoffs earlier this year.) The company said today it “anticipated…the loss of around 100 jobs in the UK” after the the mandated consultation period with employees. Penguin positions the realignments as “a series of changes to its UK business which are designed to strengthen the appeal and relevance of its publishing, reduce costs in all areas of the business, and prepare […]
Archives for July 2009
Amazon Names Best Books for the First Half of 2009
Not waiting for the end-of-year list season, Amazon is highlight an eclectic selection of their “best books of 2009…so far.” The Top 10 overall comprise: Cheever: A Life by Blake BaileyLet the Great World Spin by Colum McCannFordlandia by Greg GrandinThe City & The City by China MievilleThe Forgotten Garden by Kate MortonBrooklyn by Colm ToibinThe Gamble by Thomas RicksSag Harbor by Colson Whiteheadand even Starbucks pick Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad, and one-time Borders “make book” The Lost City of Z by David Grann Separate lists offer top tens for fiction, nonfiction, children’s and “hidden gems.” And […]
People: Bleak House Publishers Start New Company, and More
Bleak House founder Benjamin Leroy and his colleague there Alison Janssen are leaving the crime and literary fiction publisher to start a new house, Tyrus Books. Leroy is the publisher, and Janssen is senior editor (and Donna Bagdasarian’s recent new literary management agency Publication Riot Group is handling rights.) Their launch list for this fall features three titles originally planned for publication at Bleak House: Peter Gadol’s SILVER LAKE, Michael Lister’s DOUBLE EXPOSURE and an anthology of crime short stories edited by Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg. (Bleak House was acquired by Big Earth Publishing in 2005.) Leroy and […]
DOJ Officially Opens Google Settlement Antitrust Investigation; Must Present Views to Judge by 9/18
The Department of Justice officially indicated Thursday that it “has opened an antitrust investigation” into the proposed settlement between Google and authors and publishers. “At this preliminary stage, the United States has reached no conclusions as to the merit of those concerns or more broadly what impact this settlement may have on competition,” deputy assistant attorney general William F. Cavanaugh said in a letter to the federal judge overseeing the settlement. Justice says they were spurred by “public comments expressing concern that aspects of the settlement may violate the Sherman Act.” In response, the Southern District of New York set […]
People
James Gurbutt has joined Constable and Robinson to head a still-untitled new fiction imprint. He was most recently associate publisher at Harvill Secker. Literary agents Serafina Clarke and Brie Burkeman have combined their two companies to establish Brie Burkeman & Serafina Clarke Ltd., specializing in high quality commercial writing across all mediums.
Sanford Book Cancelled
Governor Mark Sanford’s book under contract with Sentinel is not going forward. The publisher says in a brief statement: “Sentinel has agreed to release Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina from his contract to write a book about fiscal conservatism, which was to be called WITHIN OUR MEANS and was scheduled for publication in March 2010. This is a mutual decision. We wish Governor Sanford the best.”