Lawrence Wright‘s THE PLAGUE YEAR will be published by Knopf on June 8, with an announced first printing of 100,000 copies. A portion of the book ran in the The New Yorker a few weeks. Wright traces Covid-19 from its origins in China, to the critical first weeks and months of its arrival in the U.S., through its escalation around the world, to today. Malcolm Gladwell‘s THE BOMBER MAFIA: A Dream, A Temptation, and The Longest Night of the Second World War will be published on April 27 by Little, Brown, with Gladwell’s audio production company Pushkin Industries releasing the […]
Archives for January 2021
People, Etc.
At Harper Children’s, Audrey Diestelkamp has been promoted to director, marketing; Robert Imfeld to associate director; Sabrina Abballe to senior manager; and Michael D’Angelo to assistant manager. At Phaidon, vice president, group publisher, Deb Aaronson will now manage the entire editorial group, overseeing commissioning in all of Phaidon’s publishing categories, including art, architecture, cookery, design, general interest, photography, and children’s. Emilia Terragni has taken on a new role as associate publisher. Simon Hunegs has been promoted to project editor. Ellie Smith has rejoined in the role of managing editor, culinary team. Sarah Sullivan will join Scholastic on February 1 as national […]
Beyond Bookscan and AAP: The Good and Bad of 2020 Sales
2020 was a year of great challenges and for many great pain, yet at the same time by standard statistics it looks to have been a strong year for trade publishing in general. The two main measures of US trade book sales — Bookscan for weekly print sales, and AAP StatShot for monthly publisher dollar sales — both turned positive in June and stayed that way for the rest of the year. Those strong and steady results gave both relief and inspiration to many people throughout our business, demonstrating the enduring importance and value of books to readers and the […]
People: Yaged Promoted to President of Macmillan Trade
Following Don Weisberg’s elevation to ceo of Macmillan’s English-language trade publishers, Jon Yaged has been promoted to fill Weisberg’s previous position of president, Macmillan Publishers US (Trade). Yaged has been president of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for the past 10 years. Jen Besser is promoted to president of Macmillan Children’s, reported to Yaged. Weisberg writes to staff: “In this year of extraordinary change, it has become even more imperative that the President of the US Trade Publishers have a clear vision not just for the company we are, but for the company that we want to be. A company that […]
Vivendi Becomes Second Largest Shareholder in Amber-Backed Prisa
Vivendi has built a 9.9 percent stake in education and media publisher Grupo Prisa, which owns El Pais newspaper as well as Santillana, a major educational publisher, particularly in South America. Prisa sold the Santillana trade business to Penguin Random House in 2014 and though lightly reported, last October they agreed to sell Santillana’s K-12 business in Spain to Finland’s Sanoma, an enterprise value of 465 million euros. At the time, Prisa indicated the move would establish a framework to separate its media and education businesses down the road. Vivendi’s position in Prisa is another sign of their broad ambition […]
Buzz Books Spring/Summer Preview: Nonfiction Part 2
Our season overview from Buzz Books 2021 Spring/Summer concludes with nonfiction, part two, including history and crime; science and technology; and social issue. Our preview includes titles from Daniel James Brown, Mari K. Eder, Caseen Gaines, Dr. Jen Gunter, and more. Get the “trade edition” of Buzz Books 2021 Spring/Summer from NetGalley or Edelweiss, or find the consumer editions all linked at our main Buzz Books website. Titles excerpted in Buzz Books are noted with an asterisk. (Please remember: Because we prepared this preview many months in advance, titles, content, and publication dates are all subject to change.) History & Crime Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, When Women Invented Television: The Untold […]