Riky Stock will join North South Books as managing director on January 1. She will focus on “strengthening transatlantic ties to the company’s head office in Zurich, Switzerland and developing a more international approach to marketing and communications.” Stock was head of the German Book Office in New York and represented the Frankfurt Book Fair in the US. (That office was recently closed.) One of the year’s unanswered questions has been what France’s Vivendi — and controlling owner Vincent Bolloré — wants from its sizable 27 percent stage in Lagardere. Reuters suggests the battle for control of the company may […]
Archives for December 2020
Briefs
Andrea Walker has joined Azantian Literary Agency as agent. She was previously an agent at Olswanger Literary. William Morris Endeavor named 25 new partners across the agency, including Margaret Riley King in the books department. WME also told staff that the pay reductions imposed in April will be restored starting January 1. Best Of Barack Obama shared his favorite books of the year. His picks include novels by Brit Bennett, Raven Leilani, and Kawai Strong Washburn, all featured in our Buzz Books 2020 Spring/Sumer anthology. Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar Jack, by Marilynne Robinson Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson The Splendid […]
Scholastic Second Quarter Results Hit Again By Continued School Closures
Scholastic reported earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 ended November 30, with total sales of $406 million, down 32 percent from $597 million a year ago. The decline in operating income was even steeper, to $49 million, more than halved from $105 million last year. The trade division continued to perform very well, however: Sales were $126 million, up from $104 million, a 21 percent increase lead by new titles from Dave Pilkey and J.K. Rowling. But their big book fair business and, to a lesser extent, their books clubs, continue to be sidelined, with only a third […]
Counting Down to the Very Best of the Best Books of 2020
Here is our weekly updated aggregation of the best of Best Books of 2020 lists, now with over 50 lists tabulated. As has been the case all along, Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste leads the overall Top 10 and is in line to be the first nonfiction book to rank as Book of the Year since we started these compilations. Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half continues to lead among works of fiction, where a pretty clear top 10 list is emerging as well: The Very Best of the Best Books of 2020: Top 10 Overall 1. Caste, Isabel Wilkerson [22] 2. The […]
Spiegel & Grau Returns, As An Independent Publisher
Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau are re-launching Spiegel & Grau as an independent publisher. The line was started at Doubleday in 2007, moved to Random House in a December 2008 reorganization, and was ultimately discontinued in early 2019 in the consolidation of Random House and Crown. The founders will serve as co-ceos, with Liza Wachter as president. Wachter previously co-founded the RWSG Literary Agency, which was acquired by WME in 2016. The new company plans to publish 15 to 20 titles a year, but will also “produce original audio content and shepherd works from print or audio to film and […]
People, Etc.
Beth Polcari has been promoted to president, international, at Scholastic, starting January 1. She succeeds Nelson Hitchcock, who will retire at the end of the year after 15 years. Rose Else-Mitchell is rejoining the company as president, education solutions, and will work with current Scholastic Education president Greg Worrell and Polcari to combine their existing divisions into a single education solutions group over the next six months, which Ms. Else-Mitchell will lead starting June 1. After the transition, Worrell will continue to advise on strategic partnerships until his retirement in December 2021 after 30 years. Polcari, Else-Mitchell, and Worrell will […]