The LA Review of Books blog has an interesting, lengthy interview with Dalkey Archive Press founder John O’Brien, who has been in talks with Chad Post at Open Letter Press about a merger or other types of cooperation. “Chad and I have been talking about what happens with Dalkey when I’m gone, and right now we are focused on how we can be of help to each other. Dalkey has this very substantial backlist of over 850 books, and Open Letter has who I think is the smartest person there is in terms of marketing. Right now we are speculating […]
Archives for March 2020
Book Expo Postponed Until Late July
Following Penguin Random House’s withdrawal from the planned May dates for Book Expo and Book Con, Reed Exhibitions announced Thursday that the show has been postponed until July 22-26, still at the Javits Center in New York City. All attendee registration and tickets for the May events will be automatically transferred over to the July dates. Event director Jenny Martin says in the announcement, “We are committed to running a show for this industry and the fans this year. What will that show look like? We are not exactly sure yet. But we believe we will be on the other […]
Briefs: People, Awards, Donations, Controversies and More
At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Taryn Roeder has been promoted to vp, director of publicity and Michelle Triant to senior publicity manager. Shara Alexander has joined as associate director of publicity. At Abrams Children’s, Lora Grisafi has been promoted to senior designer, marketing. Natali Cavanagh has joined as marketing coordinator. She was previously marketing assistant at Little Brown Children’s. At Harper Children’s, Anna Bernard has been hired as senior publicist (she was at Bloomsbury Children’s) and Lauren Levite has joined as publicist (she was at Tor/Forge). Aubrey Churchward has been promoted to publicity manager, and Mitch Thorpe is now senior publicist. Tara […]
International: Bloomsbury Performance “In Line with Expectations,” Some Orders from China Resume, and More
Bloomsbury offered a brief trading update, in advance of their full annual results May 20. Performance for the fiscal year ended February 29 is “in line with the Board’s expectations,” and “Bloomsbury’s financial position is strong with net cash of £31 million at 29 February 2020,” even after having paid £1.2 million for the acquisition of Oberon Books this past December. The release says: “It is unclear how coronavirus will affect our numbers as it is early in the new financial year. There is disruption to bookshops, online retailers and academic institutions, whilst on the other hand, reading books, including […]
Bookstore Layoffs: Barnes & Noble Warns Workers, Layoffs at Tattered Cover and Posman’s
Barnes & Noble ceo James Daunt wrote to employees with what he intended as an “extremely honest, straight-forward and unvarnished representation of the situation.” Cutbacks are already underway at the head office, both in personnel and expenses, as part of “substantial reductions in cost.” He notes, “Everything is about trying to support and sustain stores.” So far “customers are proving loyal to us and clearly appreciate that we remain open. Our sales have declined, but well within what we need to remain profitable.” Kid’s book sales “have improved” and “obviously online is doing exceptionally well” but other areas have suffered, […]
Status: Penguin Random House Withdraws from Book Expo and Book Con
Though Book Expo officials have been saying this week that they still plan on convening in late May as scheduled, Penguin Random House announced Wednesday after that they do not plan to participate. The company said in a brief statement: “In light of the New York City and State guidance to substantially limit the size of events and number of participants in public gatherings, we regret that we have had to make the difficult decision to withdraw as a participant in BookExpo and BookCon 2020. We will be exploring additional ways to connect with booksellers, librarians and readers going forward.”