During the opening keynote of OverDrive’s Digipalooza librarian and educator conference, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden emphasized the importance of having access to technology in all libraries and all communities, rural and urban, as the pandemic brought digital inequities into stark relief. Digital access, she said, is “an equalizer in culture.” “Part of my role now is to talk about how important it is to have those institutions and places for people to go, and the Library of Congress is going to be a partner in digitizing as much as we can,” she said. Hayden said that the pandemic “accelerated […]
Archives for August 2021
Forthcoming: Mel Brooks’ Memoir
Mel Brooks’ memoir ALL ABOUT ME! My Remarkable Life in Show Business will be published November 30 by Ballantine, with Century publishing in the UK. Pamela Cannon acquired world rights, sold by Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown UK. Geller writes on Twitter, “At 95, Mel has written his memoir. He felt it was the right time to do it – mid career.”
Obituary: Michael Rockliff
Former Random House and Workman sales exec Michael Rockliff, 76, died on July 29. He began his career at Random House in 1968 and remained there for 38 years. He then worked as director of library sales and marketing at Workman before retiring in 2015. PRH notes, “At sales conferences, Rockliff could be counted on to discuss, with equal passion to the pitches for imminent bestsellers, a book on displaced European Jews or a biography of an obscure but pathfinding musician. Over time, his colleagues began referring to these volumes—many of which went on to win prizes—as ‘Mike Books.’ One […]
Quarto Shows Profit on Sales Rebound, Expresses Concern on Shipping and Printing Costs
Quarto reported sales for the first half of 2021, with revenues rebounding to pre-Covid levels: They had sales of $56.9 million — “against a weak comparative” of $46.9 million last year, and in line with $56.4 million in 2019, and $56.2 million in 2019. They showed an actual profit before tax as well, of $3 million, compared to a loss of ($4) million last year. Notably, the outlook for the second half of the year includes a warning that many publishers are experiencing: “One area of concern is the volatility in freight, with capacity issues and freight costs increasing 3 […]
Acquisitions: PRH Buys 20 20 Editora, Forms New Division In Portugal
Penguin Random House has acquired the 20|20 Editora group in Portugal and will bring together all of its imprints there in a new entity, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Portugal. 20|20 founder Manuel de Freitas holds a 15 stake in the new company and serves as general director, reporting to Patxi Beascoa, with editorial continuing to be run by Clara Capitão. PRH ceo Markus Dohle says in the statement, “It is a privilege to expand the scope and strength of our editorial programs in Portugal, bringing together the catalogs of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial and 20|20 Editora. Together, we […]
People 8/3
At Running Press, Shannon Kelly is joining as editor. She was previously associate editor at Abrams.