LaSharah S. Bunting will join the Simon & Schuster imprint as vice president and executive editor, starting May 3, and acquiring nonfiction and fiction. She was most recently director/journalism at John S. and James L. Knight Foundation At Gallery Books, Molly Gregory, Max Meltzer, and Maggie Loughran have each been promoted to associate editor. Awards Carmen Maria Machado‘s In the Dream House won the 2021 Rathbone’s Folio Prize. Australia’s Stella Prize announced its 2021 shortlist, with the winner to be named April 22: Fathoms, by Rebecca Giggs Revenge, by S.L. Lim The Animals In That Country, by Laura Jean Mckay Witness, […]
Archives for March 2021
Book Excerpt: The Story Behind Ingram’s Abandoned Sale to Barnes & Noble
Ingram Content Group celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year and is commemorating the occasion with the publication of THE FAMILY BUSINESS: How Ingram Transformed the World of Books on April 20. Author Keel Hunt conducted extensive interviews with many of the key participants in building ICG over the years. Former Simon & Schuster ceo Jack Romanos says in the book, “If you look at the last fifty years of trade publishing in America, Ingram’s evolution is as important as anything that’s happened…. I wouldn’t have wanted to have to run a great publishing company without Ingram’s help and support.” But […]
Digital Briefs: Costco Audiobooks, AAP Opposes Library eBook Legislation
Costco started selling value-priced collections of digital audiobooks recently, playable through their own audiobooks app. For now they offer approximately 175 different collections to members. As Maryland (and other states) considers legislation that would require ebook publishers to also “license the book to public libraries in the state on reasonable terms,” the AAP explains in opposition that such state laws are invalid. “Federal copyright law prohibits this type of regulation of copyrights by state governments,” the organization writes. And such legislation also “raises significant Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause concerns and would likely be found to violate the U.S. […]
New Books Published March 23
Big chills this week, with new thrillers from Camilla Sten, Heather Graham, and Janet Evanovich and Steve Hamilton, as well as novels including Andrea Lee’s Red Island House and Andrew J. Graff’s Raft of Stars. Nonfiction brings wisdom and perspective from a delightful breadth of sources–Finnish educators, Francis Bacon, Cleopatra, and Nipsey Hussle, to name just a few. 7 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-march-23 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_March_/219177 7 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-march-23 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_March_/219178 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming three months through this reference page. But if you want to make […]
People, Etc.
At Harper Children’s Jessie Gang has been promoted to design manager, and Cecilia Payseur has been promoted to senior designer. Phillip Loken will join University of North Carolina Press as associate digital marketing manager. Natalie Todoroff has joined Jane Starr Literary Scouts as scout. She was formerly at Foundry Literary + Media. Launches Founder of Twitter pitch event #DVpit and literary agent Beth Phelan has created DiverseVoices, Inc., a nonprofit for marginalized book creators. Phelan is president, joined by Kat Cho (vice president), LeKesha Lewis (treasurer) and Norma Perez-Hernandez (secretary). The programs team includes Nina Grauer and literary agent Peter Knapp. The […]
Bloomsbury Upgrades Expectations for Fiscal Year After “Exceptional” February
Ahead of their formal annual report in June, Bloomsbury announced a “second upgrade” in expectations, after “exceptional” February sales in consumer books, led by Sarah J. Maas’ just-published A Court of Silver Flames. Due to the pandemic the company never issued formal guidance for the fiscal year, which ended February 28; rather, they have benchmarked against “market expectations.” Against current estimates of sales of £171 million and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £14.8 million, the company expects higher sales, and “significantly” higher earnings. Given that, Bloomsbury has “repaid the temporary salary reductions for staff,” taken for three months […]