In the latest development in the ongoing RWA controversy, Harlequin, Avon, Entangled, Berkley, Kensington, and Sourcebooks have pulled out of RWA’s 2020 national conference, scheduled to be held in San Francisco in late July. Harlequin wrote in a letter to the RWA board of directors on Wednesday, “As a leading global publisher of romance fiction that is committed to diversity and inclusion, we at Harlequin believe it is important that all authors feel included, respected and heard. Recently reported actions by RWA leadership have therefore led us to decide not to sponsor or attend the RWA2020 national conference. We will […]
Archives for January 2020
Book Culture’s UWS Store Seized by City Marshal
The complicated status of Book Culture‘s store on Columbus Avenue, co-owned by Book Culture owner Chris Doeblin and 40-percent partner John “Rick” MacArthur, has come to an unfortunate point: The City Marshal seized the store, which is now closed, as the landlord moves to recover the premises and evict the store for unpaid back rent. Doeblin posted on Facebook, “Our beloved store on Columbus was seized today unexpectedly, by our landlord. I mistakenly believed that action was retracted after paying our rent the last 5 months and cutting our arrears by $35k in December.” He said in an email to […]
Remember December: How Did They Pick?
Here is our monthly recap of high-profile retailer and book club picks from December, paired with print sales statistics from NPD Bookscan for the four weeks on sale ending December 28. But the results are a bit sparse this time, since three sources all selected a book that did not actually publish December 31 — Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid — so there are no published sales reports to share yet. (The standing reminder: These statistics are only a partial view, of print sales only. Some of these books were highly anticipated — and well pre-ordered — long […]
People, Etc.
Elizabeth DeMeo has been promoted to associate editor at Tin House Books, reporting to Masie Cochran. In addition to overseeing the poetry and paperback programs, she will acquire both fiction and nonfiction. Emily Canders has been promoted to senior publicity manager at Dutton. Hannah Wood joined Apple recently, working as content development editor on the Apple Books team. Rachel Beck is no longer with Holloway Literary. At Curtis Brown UK, Becky Brown has been promoted to agent in the division that represents literary estates, and Lucy Morris has been promoted to agent in the books department. Author Robert Caro‘s extensive […]
Wiley Buys Tech Training and Placement Firm mthree for $129 Million
Wiley announced Monday that it acquired UK-based education services provider mthree for $129 million (£98 million) in cash on January 1. mthree finds, trains and places technology talent. The company expects to record 2019 sales of over $50 million, which would reflect annual growth of 20 percent. Wiley ceo Brian Napack says in the announcement, “Wiley is committed to bridging the gap between education output and industry need. The acquisition of mthree advances Wiley’s leadership in powering the high-demand, high-potential careers that are fueling the global knowledge economy. CEO Alex Headley and his team have built a great company with […]
In Retrospect, Waterstones Says Flat Holiday Sales Were Better Than Expected
Now that the holiday is over James Daunt says that for Waterstones’ sales during the period, “I would have said it would have been down on last year” — an easy way of lowering the bar after the fact. When we spoke to him about the closing prospects for Barnes & Noble he thought the midweek Christmas would help give sales a solid finish, but for the UK he now says, “Christmas came later this year and every time it falls on a Wednesday you have to whack everything into the last four days. It was fine in the end, […]