The Authors Guild, the Open Markets Institute, and a number of writers associations have co-signed a letter urging the Department of Justice to reject the plan to merge Simon & Schuster into Penguin Random House. “The deal would bring well more than half of key U.S. book markets under the control of a single corporation, which poses a variety of potential threats to freedom of speech and democracy in the United States. The takeover falls clearly within the standard of illegality set by the Clayton Act and should be summarily rejected,” argues the letter, later offering “five arguments that easily […]
Archives for January 2021
Stream the Buzz Books Editors Panel
We had a terrific session on with Wednesday, with seven authors worthy of your attention for their forthcoming books in conversations with their editors — along with some needed comic relief from authors Patty Marx and Roz Chast. If you missed any of it, you can watch the recording at http://publun.ch/BBEditorsPanel. Just paste in the passcode: cEzg!m7+ Thanks very much again to the ABA for joining us as co-presenter and helping to fill the virtual room with eager booksellers, along with everyone who helped spread the word, including NetGalley, Publishing Perspectives, Shelf Awareness, Bookselling this Week, and others — and […]
Bloomsbury Says Sales and Profit Look Good
Bloomsbury provided a brief trading update, in advance of full preliminary results coming in June, saying that “revenue is expected to be ahead and profit well ahead of market expectations for the year ending 28 February 2021.” According to the board, the market expectation is sales of £161.8 million and pre-tax profit of £12.1 million. Sales for the previous year were flat at £162.8 million, with pre-tax profit of £13.2 million. Bloomsbury has not provided any formal guidance, so analysts have not had a lot to work with — though sales for the first half of the year were “stronger […]
People, Etc.
Mary-Kay Wilmers is stepping down as editor of the London Review of Books, but will remain involved as a consulting editor. Deputy editor Jean McNicol and senior editor Alice Spawls will succeed her as editors of the LRB. Wilmers helped found the publication in 1979, and has been sole editor since 1992. She said in the announcement, “The succession has been long in the planning and I’m very proud to be handing over the editorship to two such talented women. I’ll be continuing to do my bit as consulting editor.” Dennis Hupp has joined Highlights as senior vice president of […]
People, Etc.
Derek Reed has been promoted to executive editor, Convergent. Betsy Beier has joined Hay House as editorial director. She was previously editorial director at Sterling Publishing. Anne Barthel and Lisa Cheng become executive editors. At Random House, Carla Bruce-Eddings joined as director of publicity, One World/Roc Lit 101. Carrie Neill has been promoted to associate director of publicity; Emily Isayeff to assistant director of publicity; Steven Boriack to assistant director of publicity: Stacey Stein to publicist; and Leslie Calhoun to marketing and publicity associate for WaterBrook and Multnomah. Brian Napack, president and ceo of John Wiley, has been reelected chairman […]
Tonight: Our Winter Editors Buzz Panel
Don’t miss our Buzz Books Editors Panel tonight at 7 PM EST. Make sure you register now if you have not done so already, which makes you eligible for any additional galley releases from publishers. Or we’ll be showing it live through our Facebook page as well. Thanks to our co-presenter the American Booksellers Association, plus kind enthusiasm from the community, we are expecting a packed virtual room. Moderator Jake Cumsky-Whitlock at Solid State Books in Washington, DC, will join co-hosts and authors Roz Chast and Patricia Marx, as well as seven great editors previewing some of the season’s most exciting […]