Longtime publisher of Algonquin Books Elisabeth Scharlatt will retire as of December 1 after 30 years at the company. Carolan Workman says in the announcement, “Elisabeth has been the eloquent voice, the animated spirit, and the powerful driving force of Algonquin for decades. She put us on the literary map, and she is admired and respected and loved throughout the industry.” Editorial director Betsy Gleick will succeed Scharlatt as publisher. Michael McKenzie is being promoted to associate publisher and Algonquin Young Readers publisher Elise Howard will report directly to Workman ceo Dan Reynolds. Rachel Bressler has joined Harlequin Trade Publishing in […]
Archives for November 2019
Corporate: Pearson Buys EdTech Company, Sourcebooks Brings Back Holiday Shipping
Pearson announced the acquisition of edtech company Lumerit Education, which focuses on college degree completion and affordability, valuing the company at $29 million. Lumerit’s 70 employees will become part of Pearson’s Online Learning Services business. Separately, Sourcebooks will resume their holiday rapid replenishment program again for independent bookstores. The program starts November 4 and continues through December 19.
Remember October: How Did They Pick?
The October picks were unusual for a number of reasons. Oprah’s new, more regular bi-monthly book club for Apple TV+ was the biggest outlier. Officially launching today, the “November selection” was announced September 23 and you could see the lift in the opening week of sales for Ta-Nehisi Coates’s novel. At the lower end of the commercial scale, Good Morning America followed the considerable success of their rivals at the Today Show with their own book club — announced quite modestly October 9, with little commercial response so far. Jenna Bush Hager, on the other hand, selected a book that […]
People, Etc.
Erica Wetter has joined Stanford University Press as executive editor for literature, philosophy, and religion. She previously was at Routledge. Batya Rosenblum has been promoted to senior editor at The Experiment. As of October 23 Penguin Random House UK is in a formal “consultation period” over the elimination of “a small number” of positions in rights sales, the Bookseller reports. They say the company is looking at centralizing rights sales for the entire company in a single team under recently-promoted group rights director Chantal Noel. Separately, Rae Shirvington is leaving Ebury at the end of the year. Dallas bookseller Interabang Books […]
November Bookseller Picks
Amazon‘s Spotlight Pick for November is Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea and its Featured Debut is NVK by Temple Drake. Also on the list are Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here and Susannah Cahalan’s The Great Pretender, both excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 Fall/Winter sampler. The rest of the list: Find Me, by Andre Aciman Blue Moon, by Lee Child In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado Acid for the Children, by Flea Little Weirds, by Jenny Slate User Friendly, by Cliff Huang and Robert Fabricant Barnes & Noble‘s top fiction titles of the […]