In an encouraging sign, the New York Times has reached outside to recruit a book publishing reporter, hiring Alexandra Alter from the Wall Street Journal. She will start in early July. The news was announced by NYT media editor Peter Lattman on Friday. He wrote to NYT staff:
“Alexandra has covered books and publishing at The Wall Street Journal for the past five years, focusing on features and analytical pieces in the paper’s Friday arts and culture section. She has profiled authors from Stephen King to Don DeLillo, and delivered smart stories on industry trends like the rise of self publishing and fan fiction, the boom in audiobooks, and the way digital publishers and retailers can now track what and how people are reading. She also wrote front-page stories about quirky publishing trends, like the popularity of Amish romance novels and NASA’s new line of science fiction.”