A letter from Minnesota Public Radio ceo Jon McTaggart posted Tuesday afternoon clarified the allegations of inappropriate behavior against Garrison Keillor that resulted in the termination of his contract last November. Keillor had trivialized the complaint at the time, saying it was about one time he “put my hand on a woman’s bare back.” But in answering questions submitted by listeners, McTaggart revealed that the accusation triggering the investigation was of “dozens of sexually inappropriate incidents” directed at a colleague over a number of years. A 12-page letter submitted to MPR in October by the woman’s attorney detailed “many of the alleged incidents, including […]
Archives for January 2018
People: Ursula K. Le Guin Dies, and More
Ursula K. Le Guin, 88, died January 22 at her home in Portland, Oregon. Her son, Theo Downes-Le Guin, told the NYT “she had been in poor health for several months” but did not specify a cause of death. Le Guin was the author of more than 20 novels, including the “Earthsea” series and The Left Hand of Darkness, as well as collections of poetry, short stories, and essays. Her most recent work, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt at the end of 2017, was No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters. Her editor, Naomi Gibbs, said in a statement: […]
Google Play Audiobooks Launch
After various hints online, and in a move publishers have been waiting for, Google Play officially launched digital audiobooks, offered for sale in 45 countries and nine languages:English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Polish. A launch promotion prices some top titles at less than $10, and they have an offer for 50 percent off the first audiobook purchase. Google bills listening “without a subscription” and “with no commitments” prominently as a virtue, an unstated comparison to Audible’s efforts to turn everyone into a subscriber, whether or not that is what they intended. Store
Buzz Books Spring/Summer Preview: Nonfiction
Our Buzz Books 2018 Spring/Summer sampler excerpts an array of great forthcoming nonfiction titles from authors including Mohammed Al Samawi, Barbara Lipska, Tessa Fontaine, and more. As usual, we begin our free ebook with an exhaustive overview of the upcoming publishing season featuring hundreds of notable titles on the way. Did you download your copy yet? Get the “trade edition” from NetGalley or Edelweiss, or find the consumer editions from Kindle, Nook, iBooks (where they are being promoted on a number of high-profile pages), and Kobo, among other online retailers. With Winter Institute 13 underway now in Memphis, we’ve been presenting […]
People, Etc.
At Penguin Random House Audio, Kelly Atkinson has been promoted to managing editor and Ruby Liu has been promoted to project management coordinator. Heather Job has joined as associate publicist. She was previously publicity assistant at Macmillan Children’s. Kate Rados has been promoted to vice president, consumer platforms at Penguin Random House’s corporate consumer development group. Kristen Fritz moved up to vice president, executive editor, content marketing. Ann Marie LaCasha joined Sourcebooks as director of brand marketing. She was previously senior product manager, global marketing at Abbott. Brianna Yamashita joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as director of marketing, lifestyle and business. She was previously associate publisher, executive director of […]
National Book Critics Circle Finalists, with Honors for McPhee, Machado and Finch
The National Book Critics Circle announced its 30 finalists in six categories for its 2017 awards, along with three award winners. John McPhee receives the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award; Carmen Maria Machado‘s debut story collection Her Body and Other Parties wins the John Leonard Prize recognizing outstanding first books; and Charles Finch receives the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. The rest of the winners will be announced in a ceremony in New York on March 15. The NBCC often has at least one glaring point of divergence with other major awards, and this year is no exception. […]