Gerald Howard, vice president, executive editor, Doubleday, is retiring at the end of the year, after working at the house since 1998. Publisher and editor-in-chief of Doubleday Bill Thomas, writes, “Gerry has decided to spend more time with his wonderful wife, Susanne, travel and work on his biography of the legendary editor Malcolm Cowley for Penguin Press, which, amusingly to some of us, is overdue.” Thomas adds, “‘Legendary editor’ is an appellation that applies to Gerry just as well. The range and quality of the books he has edited, published and championed over his forty-six-year career is simply breathtaking…. He […]
Archives for September 2020
New Books Publishing September 8
The big releases continue, with fiction from Fredrik Bachman, Sigrid Nunez and Ruth Ware, plus nonfiction from John Cleese, Jane Fonda, Jenna Bush Hager, Reed Hastings, Jay Shetty 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: 17 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-september-8 19 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-september-8 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 […]
Corporate: Early Retirement At HMH, and Judge Throws Out Parneros’s Defamation Claim Against BN
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced that 166 employees — five percent of the company’s workforce — opted to participate in a voluntary early retirement incentive program, which had first been announced August 6 in the company’s quarterly report. The program was offered to all US-based employees who are at least 55 years old and have at least five years of service, comprising about 18 percent of the workforce. For the majority of employees who elected to leave, the decision was effective September 4, though a few are leaving later in the year. According to the SEC filing, the total one-time cash […]
Frankfurt Book Fair Cancels Live Exhibition
The Frankfurt Book Fair has been forced to abandon plans to convene a smaller, live version of the trade event in October, due to new quarantine rules effective October 1 that would “make it nearly impossible for European exhibitors and trade visitors to participate.” US publishers were already blocked from attending, Canada had postponed their appearance as guest of honor, and the largest international publishers — including those headquartered in Germany — had already declared months ago they would forgo any live exhibition. Until people go back to the office, they are not going to think about attending book fairs. […]
Briefs
People Natascha Morris joins The Tobias Literary Agency as literary agent where she will rep picture books, middle grade, and YA. She was previously a literary agent at Bookends. David Graeber, 59, anthropologist and author of Bull***t Jobs, died on September 2 in a hospital in Venice. His publisher FSG writes, “We are deeply saddened by the news of David Graeber’s untimely death. Graeber’s path-breaking scholarship and political activism were focused on imagining new forms of human freedom. The impact of his work on our intellectual life and the progress of humanity toward a more just future has been felt […]
Corporate: Abrams Acquires Cameron, Bonnier UK Makes Flexible Work Permanent, and More
Abrams has acquired Cameron + Company, a family-owned publisher based in Petaluma, CA, publishing books with a focus on photography, art, food and wine, children’s books, and topics of regional interest. Abrams has distributed the line since early 2018. Cameron + Company will be a separate division under Abrams, with vice president and publisher Chris Gruener reporting to Abrams president and ceo Michael Jacobs. The current staff will remain based in their offices in Northern California. Separately, Hardie Grant has bought out Egmont, their joint venture partner in Hardie Grant Egmont, and will rename their children’s line Hardie Grant Children’s […]