Archives for November 2021
Brechner Resigns From ABA Board Citing Free Speech Concerns
Kenny Brechner, owner of DDG Booksellers in Farmington, ME, resigned from the ABA board following a change in the organization’s free speech policy. Brechner asserted in ShelfTalker (his column for Publishers Weekly) that the ABA’s September change in its ends policies would “restrict its active support and defense of free expression.” Citing new language that pledges to ensure “members have the resources in support of their right to freedom of expression,” Brechner charges, “This nebulous statement undermined ABA’s long established role as a defender of free expression in the literary world. Pointedly it constricted ABFE’s [American Booksellers For Free Expression] […]
An Odd Story of M&A and Antitrust
This isn’t what you are thinking. Rather, on Wednesday morning, RR Donnelly announced the board has accepted an offer from Atlas Holdings to take the company private. The bid comprises about $620 million to buy out the equity, and takes on about $1.4 billion in debt. Atlas topped an offer made in October by Donnelly’s largest bondholder (as well as owner of about 15 percent of their stock) Chatham Asset Management, which quickly said they were prepared to offer a higher bid, subject to various contingencies. Not noted in the initial coverage — even from the WSJ — is that […]
Awards: NBCC Adds Translated Book Prize
The National Book Critics Circle announced the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize, which “seeks to highlight the artistic merit of literature in translation and recognize translators’ valuable work, which expands and enriches American literary culture by bringing world literature to English-language readers.” The inaugural prize will honor a book from any genre translated into English and published in the US in 2022, and will be judged by all NBCC members, not just those on the board. The award is named for poet, critic, and NBCC board member Gregg Barrios, who died in August. “There have been talks within the […]
People 11/3
Jamie Evans joins as production editor at Peachtree. She previously worked as a freelance editor.
Call for 2022 Season Preview Listings
As always, our forthcoming Buzz Books 2022: Spring/Summer sampler will include extensive a seasonal preview/overview listing of notable titles on the way. We compile these big roundups by looking at publisher catalogs, our own comprehensive monthly lists of significant forthcoming books; hints from our substantial flow of deal reports; aggregation of “anticipated books” lists from other publications; word-of-mouth within the industry; and more. If you have notable spring/summer titles you would like to have considered for the preview list — particularly ones you are concerned we might have missed from the regular signals, along with drop-ins and rescheduled releases — […]