The National Book Awards longlists will roll out Tuesday through Friday this week, and the actual finalists will be announced on October 4. Winners will be named on November 15. First up is Young People’s Literature longlist, which includes two previous nominees (Reynolds, the only man on the list, and Williams-Garcia) and current top bestseller Angie Thomas. Five of the titles are from HarperCollins imprints: Elana K. Arnold, What Girls Are Made Of (Carolrhoda Lab) Robin Benway, Far from the Tree (HarperTeen) Samantha Mabry, All the Wind in the World (Algonquin Young Readers) Mitali Perkins, You Bring the Distant Near (FSG Children’s) […]
Archives for September 2017
People, Etc.
At Transatlantic Agency, Samantha Haywood, has bought controlling interest in the agency from co-founder David Bennett and is now president of the firm. Bennett will serve as chairman emeritus, and co-founder Lynn Bennett stays on as treasurer. Also at Transatlantic, Rob Firing has joined as speakers’ agent and literary agent, working tocreate a speakers’ division. He was senior director of publicity, communications, and speakers’ bureau at Harper Canada. Marilyn Biderman, previously of Marilyn Biderman Literary Management, joins as senior literary agent, bringing her clients with her. Bennett says of the changes, “Lynn and I are thrilled to be passing the torch to Samantha […]
Judge Hands Down Decisive KinderGuides Opinion
In the copyright infringement case brought against the publishers of KinderGuides — “early learning guides” that essentially adapted classic works of literature for younger readers — Judge Jed Rakoff issued the opinion to explain his finding over a month ago granting summary judgment to the plaintiffs. On August 15, Judge Rakoff issued a permanent injunction to block the sale of the infringing KinderGuides and destroy all remaining inventory. Subsequently, the plaintiffs have withdrawn their request for summary judgment finding that defendants acted willfully, and have further withdrawn with prejudice their claims for statutory damages, “to avoid the time and expense […]
People, Etc.
Wendi Gu has joined Janklow & Nesbit as an associate agent, working with Brooks Sherman in the children’s books division. She was most recently an agent at Greenburger Associates and will continue to represent fiction for young adult and middle-grade readers, picture books, and select adult fiction and nonfiction. Julie Tibbott, who was previously a senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, has joined Jill Corcoran Literary Agency as an agent. Jim Dassise, West Coast college field sales manager for Penguin Random House, will leave the company after 17 years on September 15. He can be reached at jdassise19@gmail.com and is based […]
AAP Data Shows Soft April
The AAP reported their monthly StatShot statistics for April, after dropping the first three monthly reports for the year in one batch on August 1. As usual, you should not read much into a single month’s report. Gross print shipments to accounts declined $42.5 million, or 7.5 percent, in April, with adult sales down a little more than children’s and young adult sales. As with the first quarter’s numbers, however, year to year comparisons get a little skewed since the final, revised numbers for 2016 rose again in April. (So April 2017 looks worse in comparison as the revised counts for […]
Same Story: Book Publishing Continues Decline At Wiley
Wiley reported fiscal first quarter sales on Friday, with sales of $411 million, up $7 million from a year ago, but lower operating income, at $14.5 million down from $43.8 million in 2016. The gap was attributable to $29 million of restructuring and related charges, from their “operational excellence initiatives.” Their book publishing business continues its steady decline: STM and professional publishing fell 10 percent to $63.6 million, as education publishing fell 17 percent to $45.7 million, for a combined decline of $16.3 million. Release