The Whiting Awards were announced in a ceremony Wednesday evening. The ten winners of the $50,000 prize are: Fiction Jen Beagin (Pretend I’m Dead, Triquarterly Books) Kaitlyn Greenidge (We Love You, Charlie Freeman, Algonquin) Lisa Halliday (Asymmetry, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in 2018) Tony Tulathimutte (Private Citizens, Morrow) Nonfiction Francisco Cantú (The Line Becomes a River, forthcoming from Riverhead in 2018) Poetry Simone White (Of Being Dispersed, Futurepoem) Phillip B. Williams (Thief in the Interior, Alice James Books) Drama Clarence Coo James Ijames Clare Barron In People news, Allison Devlin will join F+W Media as vp, director of sales and marketing […]
Archives for March 2017
Adult Hardcover Shipments Fell In October Ahead of the Election
After rebounding to nearly flat at the end of the third quarter, trade sales as measured by the reporting AAP publishers fell $67.5 million in October, a decline of a 8.8 percent, at $701 million. The primary difference was significantly lower adult hardcover shipments — reflecting a new release schedule that pushed big fall books away from the election. Gross shipments to accounts of adult hardcovers were $71 million lower than a year ago, at $243 million. As we had predicted in the past, however, ebook sales finally look to have found their new level, following the completion of the […]
People, Etc.
Among the first named layoffs at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is svp, associate trade group publisher and business development Laurie Brown, who has left the company. Ingram Content Group has added Kelly Arnold as chief legal offficer (she was general counsel at U.S. Xpress Enterprises) and Deanna Steele as chief information technology officer (she was group vice president, IT – Brands at Ascena Retail Group). Nancy Sheppard has joined St. Martin’s as marketing director. Previously she was director of creative marketing services at Penguin Adult. Josh Redlich has been promoted to publicist at Random House Children’s. Laura Kaplan has returned to the […]
People, Etc.
Matthew Daddona has been promoted to editor at Dey Street Books. Megha Parekh has joined Amazon Publishing’s Thomas & Mercer as editor. Previously, she was editor at Grand Central Publishing. Former publishing director at Harper Collins in Australia and New Zealand Shona Martyn has joined Lingo Pictures as their book scout. Former editorial director at Harper UK Martin Redfern will join Diane Banks Associates as a nonfiction agent in April. The Books for a Better Life Awards will induct publisher Esther Margolis and authors Gretchen Rubin and Mary Higgins Clark into their Hall of Fame at their April awards ceremony. Robert B. Silvers, 87, founding […]
Houghton Announces Plans for Cost Cutting
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt formally announced plans to cut costs over the next 21 months last Thursday, telling employees and then investors about “certain proposed operational efficiency and cost-reduction actions.” The company said in February after another dismal quarter that included a $139 million impairment charge to expect “strategic cost cutting to simplify the business and help enable the company to reinvest for future growth,” noting they had engaged Boston Consulting Group on “steps to improve its operational efficiency and right-size its cost structure.” Similar language is repeated in the recent SEC filing. Top executives are safe but otherwise they said to expect layoffs, office […]
People, Etc.
Valerie Steiker will join Scribner as executive editor on April 17. Previously, she was the longtime culture editor at Vogue. Reporting to Colin Harrison and Nan Graham, she will acquire and edit fiction, memoir, narrative non-fiction, and lifestyle books. Parisa Ebrahimi joins the Crown and Hogarth fiction team today as editor. She moves over from Chatto & Windus in London and reports to Lindsay Sagnette. Rebecca Marsh has joined Viking/Penguin Books as publicity manager. Previously, she was a senior publicist for Crown Archetype, Harmony, and Three Rivers Press. Forthcoming Audio Robert Caro has written and narrated an audiobook-only title, ON POWER, releasing on May 9, […]