Today is publication day for longtime publisher Stephen Rubin’s memoir, Words and Music: Confessions of an Optimist. As promised, the book is a deliciously candid (sometimes impolitic) account of his illustrious career, covering both his hits and his missteps, and sharing stories about some of the industry’s best-known personalities. The following excerpt, from the chapter “More Corporate Claptrap” — Rubin notes a few times, “I have always said that corporations do dumb things” — is just a taste, recounting his final days at Random House. Why didn’t it work for me as Random House’s Publisher at Large? Why was the […]
Archives for January 2023
People 1/23
Kristen Luby joins Abrams as associate director, school & library marketing. She was previously senior marketing manager, school & library at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.
Obituary: Eileen Ahearn
Eileen Ahearn, 75, best-known as a former administrator of the James Baldwin Estate, passed away after a short illness on January 6. Ahearn began her career in publishing as a typist at Random House in the early 1970s, alongside the late Carolyn Reidy, with whom she would work and consult over five decades. She served as secretary to Toni Morrison when she was an editor, which turned into a lifelong bond. For the last nearly 30 years of her career, she worked as a consultant with Reidy at Simon & Schuster, retiring in 2020.
Amazon’s New Ebook Return Policy to Take Effect Shortly
Amazon’s new restrictions on ebook returns will be rolled out in the US by the end of the month, the Authors Guild reports. The policy, encouraged by the Guild and announced in September, will limit automatic returns on books where more than 10 percent has been read. This change to the policy was supposed to be implemented by the end of 2022, and a press release states that Amazon is “in the final stages of making these technical changes.”
Distribution: Rebel Girls, Papercutz
DK will sell and distribute Rebel Girls‘ English language titles worldwide starting in spring 2023. Simon & Schuster now sells and distributes Papercutz worldwide.
Buzz Books Spring/Summer Nonfiction Preview Part 2
Last week we launched our Buzz Book 2023: Spring/Summer sampler, with excerpts from an array of great fiction. If you haven’t downloaded your copy yet, the “trade edition” is available now from NetGalley or Edelweiss or find the consumer editions all linked at our main Buzz Books website. And this Wednesday, January 25 we’ll convene our live Buzz Books Editors Panel with moderator Michael Cader hosting six editors and their authors discussing some of the season’s potential breakout titles. Be sure to register today. Our last season preview installment from Buzz Books 2023: Spring/Summer continues with these nonfiction categories: social issues, history and crime, and business, […]