Tattered Cover director of buying Cathy Langer will retire in March 2018, more than 40 after joining the store. Adult frontlist buyer Stephanie Coleman will take over Langer’s position after she leaves. The Denver Post has a profile of Langer, as incoming co-owner Len Vlahos tells the paper she is among “an elite group of really well-known book buyers in our universe.” Current owner Joyce Meskis tells BTW: “Cathy has unfailingly demonstrated her knowledge of the readers’ potential interest and her ability to be in touch with it. That speaks to her abilities as a bookseller and buyer, but Cathy’s contribution has […]
Archives for March 2017
International: Obamas’ French Publisher, New Harlequin Line, and Awards
Hachette Livre’s Fayard became the first publisher outside of the Penguin Random House family to announce that it has licensed rights, in France, to the forthcoming books by former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. They also publish Hillary Clinton in French. Harlequin announced the launch of Harlequin Dare, a romance series “featuring strong, independent women” in “highly explicit encounters,” which will start publishing in January 2018. Harlequin is acquiring for line from their offices in London, New York and Toronto and will publish four titles a month — in both print and ebook form in the UK and Australia, and […]
People, Etc.
At Chronicle Books, AiLing Tjan has been promoted to accounting supervisor, while Barrett Hooper is now senior financial analyst and Christina Mott moves up to distribution client account manager. Ingram Content Group has tapped poetry writer and bookseller Stephen Sparks to launch a poetry newsletter called Little Infinite. Sparks owns Point Reyes Bookshop in Pt. Reyes, CA, and has contributed to a number of literary outlets including the Paris Review Daily, Tin House, Music & Literature magazine, BOMB and Lithub. Imprints Bonnier Publishing is expanding their Igloo Books mass market line, setting up a US version, led by Jeremy Nurnberg, now director of sales, North America […]
Major Fiction Deals Rebound In Otherwise Modest Pre-Fair Activity
In line with our early assessment of dealmaking heading into this year’s London Book Fair, now officially underway, even with a busy few days of final reports this year’s activity stands at moderate. The biggest (or “major”) deals came in just ahead of last year and still well below the most recent high-water mark in 2014, with fiction having its second-strongest showing in the last 8 years (and in turn nonfiction at its weakest point in that period — except for the Obamas’ record-setting deal). Overall six-figure deals were more balanced across the breakouts: Looking just at the closely-watched fiction […]
California Consumer Sues Audible Over Subscription Terms
A California consumer filed suit in the state’s Central District Federal Court against Audible and Amazon, seeking class action status, on behalf of “consumers who find themselves trapped in a shell game.” The suit objects to differences between how Audible allegedly advertises its membership program, and how the program works in fact. (The ads on which part of the case rests are not submitted with the complaint.) The plaintiff says he was promised his audio credits would “never expire” — except that they do expire if and when you cancel. He objects to limitations on how many credits you can accrue and […]
People, Etc.
Abrams has announced more details about their new nonfiction imprint under Jamison Stoltz, which will launch in May, called Abrams Press. The inaugural release will be Michael Ruhlman’s Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, a look at food issues through the lens of the supermarket, due out May 16. Other forthcoming titles in fall 2017 include Paul Sahre’s illustrated memoir Two-Dimensional Man; Breaking Bad 101 by television critic Alan Sepinwall; and knitting essay anthology A Stash of One’s Own edited by Clara Parkes. In addition to already announced acquisitions, Spring 2018 features a collection of personal essays by […]