The year is off to a roaring start with 21 new works of fiction publishing this week, including Michael Farris Smith’s Gatsby prequel Nick, timed to publish just as the original enters the public domain. Ashley Audrain’s The Push and Robert Jones Jr.’s The Profits were both PL Fall/Winter Buzz Books selections, and both are highlight bookseller and book club picks this month: 21 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-january-5 Seven nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-january-5 New children’s and YA titles publishing in January https://bookshop.org/lists/new-children-s-titles-publishing-in-january-2021
Archives for January 2021
2020: The Year in Mergers and Finance
Befitting the pandemic year, 2020 recorded only modest merger activity, as most potential buyers focused on preserving liquidity over acquisitions. In the end, the year was as notable for what didn’t happen as what did. Cengage and McGraw Hill called off what would have been the year’s biggest merger after running into resistance from the Department of Justice and other regulators. (Both are left with significant debt to pay down.) Barnes & Noble Education spent all year busily not getting acquired: They explored “strategic” options for months and concluded that the company was doing fine on its own — which […]
January Picks
The Pennie’s Pick at Costco is The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict. Amazon‘s Spotlight Pick for January is Mateo Askaripour‘s Black Buck and their Featured Debut is Robert Jones Jr.‘s The Prophets. The latter is excerpted and available for download now in our Buzz Books 2020 Fall/Winter anthology. The rest of their monthly picks: Waiting for the Night Song, by Julie Carrick Dalton Outlawed, by Anna North Better Luck Next Time, by Julia Claiborne Johnson The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, by Marie Benedict Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder, by T.A. Willberg Nine Days, by Stephen Kendrick and […]
People, Etc.
Don Pape has launched a new agency called Pape Commons, that will “serve the author community as not only a literary agency but also a forum for community and support of writers’ craft.” Pape was most recently publisher for NavPress. “As I’ve been inspired by conversations with editors and authors alike,”said Pape in the release, “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to steward well the next generation of voices.” Sara Birmingham has been promoted to editor at Ecco. Jenny Xu has been promoted to editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Anton Strout, 50, who worked at Penguin Random House for 22 […]