Annysa Polanco has been promoted to director, diversity, equity & inclusion at Penguin Random House. In the coming year, the company will add “more fully-dedicated positions” in diversity, equity & inclusions roles across the divisions, including a new “board-level DE&I leadership position” that will report directly to PRH US ceo Madeline McIntosh. Polanco will report to that new executive once the role is filled. Michael DeFazio had been promoted to vice president & executive director, production planning, analytics, and paper purchasing, Penguin Random House. Film/TV Production outfit The Mazur Kaplan Company — run by bookseller Mitchell Kaplan and producer Paula […]
Archives for November 2020
Bologna Book Fair Announces June Dates, Takes Aim at LBF and Book Expo with General Publishing Initiative
Following quickly on the London Book Fair’s hopes for an awkwardly-timed live book fair next year running June 29 to July 1, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair has also announced new dates, and expanded ambitions. Bologna now hopes to convene their fair from June 14 through June 17, moving from their original dates in mid-April. Both events may be ahead of sufficient vaccination to encourage live gatherings at scale, particularly while hoping to draw visitors from around the world. Note, for example, that Macmillan Publishers in the US recently declared that they will not open their trade publishing offices in […]
The Top Bidders for Simon & Schuster Are…Exactly As Expected
“Three people familiar with the process” have confirmed to the NYT that parents of the two largest trade publishers in the US — Penguin Random House and HarperCollins — are the two leading bidders for Simon & Schuster at this point. Which is exactly as was expected, since the company will yield greater financial efficiencies if it is acquired by another, larger trade publisher. “At least one of the offers has topped $1.7 billion,” two of the people said to the paper, with final bids due prior to Thanksgiving. If true, that would be a substantial premium over prices for […]
New Books Publishing November 17
Yes, Barack Obama’s memoir publishes today, but it is joined by a wealth of high-profile new releases. There are also memoirs and personal essays from Rachel Bloom, Cazzie David, Ree Drummond, Michael J. Fox, Dolly Parton — and new fiction from David Baldacci, Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, Brandon Sanderson and Danielle Steel, plus Rupi Kaur’s third collection of poetry, and still more. The week will include the National Book Awards on Wednesday night and the Booker Prize selection on Thursday. With the NYT about to publishing their lists of 100 Notable Books and the top 10 books of […]
People, Etc.
David Ebershoff will rejoin Random House as vice president and executive editor starting January 4. Though he reports to Andy Ward, Ebershoff “will be focusing on the Hogarth list,” while also acquiring for the Random House list. Ebersoff was previously executive editor at Random House for 20 years until 2015. At the Simon & Schuster imprint, Priscilla Painton has been promoted to vp, editorial director for nonfiction program. Reporting to publisher Dana Canedy, Painton “will work with our editors to expand, diversify, and strengthen our already stellar nonfiction list.” Hannah Phillips, Kevin Reilly, Gwen Hawkes, Alice Pfeifer, Sallie Lotz, and […]
Authors Guild Calls for Albert Whitman to Pay Overdue Royalties
The Authors Guild made a statement on Monday in support of authors who are owed royalties by publisher Albert Whitman and Company, calling for “transparency and immediate rectification of past due royalties.” They write, “Over the last few years, the Authors Guild has contacted AW&C on numerous occasions to convey members’ concerns involving delayed royalty payments and the accuracy of accounting reports.” The statement followed a November 9 thread on Twitter from Joan He, author of YA book Descendant of the Crane, that said she was considering suing the company for copyright infringement. He wrote, “Back in May, they failed […]