• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Corona Updates: More Publishers Withdraw From Bologna, Poets & Writers Gala Cancelled, LAT Festival Postponed, More Cancellations and Contingencies

March 11, 2020
By Erin Somers

Event cancellations due to COVID-19 continue apace. The big publishers are not going to send employees to the rescheduled Bologna Book Fair: HBG, Hachette UK and Hachette Livre, have withdrawn,”in light of the unprecedented action the Italian government is taking to contain the spread of the coronavirus and our ongoing concern for the safety of our colleagues, authors and partners.” Bonnier UK also said it will skip the event.

Poets & Writers has cancelled its 50th anniversary gala, scheduled for March 16. “We’re sorely disappointed, but made this decision out of a concern for the health and safety of our staff and guests.”

The Los Angeles Times postponed its Festival of Books on Tuesday, originally set for April, “in light of public health concerns related to the coronavirus and out of an abundance of caution.” The event has been rescheduled for October 3-4. The Virginia Festival of the Book, scheduled for March 18-22, has also been cancelled.

Elsewhere, both Macmillan and Penguin Random House and DK decided to not attend the Texas Library Association annual conference, set for March 24-27 in Houston.

In Italy, Kobo and Mondadori are working together to provide free ebooks to people while they are staying at home. At Kobo’s headquarters in Toronto, on Tuesday they had “a rehearsal of ‘full work-from-home,'” ceo Michael Tamblyn told Publishing Perspectives. “Everyone in the office is working remotely, no access to office space. Not because it’s necessary at this moment, but because we want to see what issues would come up in the event that we had to. I’d rather do a dry-run on our own terms than find out what doesn’t work in the event of a crisis. The good news is that we get to learn from the experiences of our co-workers in some of our more affected territories, like Taiwan and Italy, and bring that to the rest of the team.”

Filed Under: Free, News

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • So Far, Books by Trump Aides Are Mostly...Losers June 23, 2022 Politico
  • Macmillan Nigeria Publisher Charged With Book Fraud June 21, 2022 The Herald
  • All The Exiting Agents Seem to Think ICM's Sale to CAA Will Get Approved Shortly by DOJ June 17, 2022 Deadline
  • Spotify Closes Findaway Acquisition: "Their technology will help propel Spotify into the rapidly growing audiobooks industry" June 17, 2022 Press Release
  • Australian Author John Hughes "Unintentionally" Plagiarized The Great Gatsby And Other Famous Works In His New Novel June 15, 2022 The Guardian
  • Hatewatch Reveals Identities of Anonymous White Nationalist Book Publishers June 14, 2022 Southern Poverty Law Center
  • UK's Emerald Group Sold to Cambridge Information Group June 10, 2022 Press Release
  • Neil Gorsuch Is Writing A Book for HarperCollins, Declares First Advance of $250,000; Coney Barrett Got $425,000 First Advance After Commission June 9, 2022 Disclosure Form
  • New York State Passes Freelance Isn't Free Act June 3, 2022 Authors Guild
  • Michael Avenatti Sentenced to 4 Years for Stealing Book Proceeds from Stormy Daniels June 2, 2022 AP
© 2022 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.