Jamia Wilson will join Random House as vice president and executive editor, starting January 4. She was most recently executive director and publisher of The Feminist Press. At Putnam, Nishtha Patel has been promoted to marketing coordinator; Nicole Biton to associate publicist; and Sydney Cohen to associate publicist. Awards The National Book Foundation announced the titles for the third and final year of its Literature for Justice program: Dionne Brand, Ossuaries Nicole R. Fleetwood, Marking Time Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Golden Gulag Sarah Haley, No Mercy Here Kelly Lytle Hernández, City of Inmates Assata Shakur, Assata Albert Woodfox with Leslie George, […]
Archives for September 2020
Fall Dealmaking Shows Strong Start
With the Frankfurt Book Fair cancelled, we are taking a preliminary look at the big fall “dealmaking season” a full three weeks after Labor Day. (Ordinarily, we chart pre-FBF deal trends according to the five-plus weeks between Labor Day and the Tuesday before the Fair.) So far, the market for new deals is looking strong in a number of ways, in line with healthy print book sales in recent weeks, and financial reports showing trade publishers managing reasonably well during the pandemic and improving their performance during the summer. Of course it’s too early to know if dealmakers have simply […]
People, Etc.
Katie McGuire has joined Tapas Media as novel acquisitions lead. She was previously editor at Pegasus Books. Updates The recently-announced increase in entry-level salaries for employees of Macmillan‘s US trade division does not apply to the separate education company, Macmillan Learning. Asked to comment, a spokesperson told PL, “We were not aware that our trade partners were instituting an off-cycle change. We review salaries annually and plan on taking another look after the close of our fiscal year.” Initiatives The Book Industry Study Group has joined with its counterparts in Canada (BookNet Canada) and the UK (Book Industry Communications) to […]
Bernard Arnault Buys Direct Lagardere Stake
Late last week, French billionaire Bernard Arnault bought a 5 percent stake in the publicly-traded shares of Lagardere, signaling the strength of his commitment to supporting ceo Arnaud Lagardere as a majority of shareholders seek to shake up the board and management of the company. Earlier this year Arnault helped shore up Mr. Lagardere financially, acquiring a 25 percent stake in the privately-owned holding company that controls Lagardere. A Vivendi spokesman said the firm was “very happy” that Bernard Arnault had become a direct Lagardere shareholder, Reuters reported. (This will only fuel speculation from earlier this year that the ultimate […]
New Books Publishing September 29
Today’s new releases include fiction from Marilynne Robinson, Nick Hornby and Nicholas Sparks — and in nonfiction, Mariah Carey’s memoir, biographies of Jimmy Carter and James Baker, and more. As in previous weeks, our sample Bookshop and Aerbook store carousels provide easy displays of books publishing today in need of attention and support, featuring: 10 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-september-29 10 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-september-29 More new children’s and YA titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-children-s-titles-publishing-in-september We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming three months through this reference page. But if you want to […]
People, Etc.
Lindsay Guzzardo joins Martin Literary & Media Management as literary manager of adult fiction. She was previously editor at Amazon Publishing before working independently. Aria Gmitter joins Whimsy Literary Agency as literary agent. She is an editor and freelance writer and was previously literary assistant to Peter Miller of Global Lion Intellectual Property Management. Former bookseller Bill Savran, 84, “best known for being the owner and visionary behind Savran’s Books, a Minneapolis institution near the University for more than 20 years,” died on September 20. Awards Rick Atkinson won the 2020 George Washington Prize for The British are Coming: The […]