Penguin Random House and a group of four authors—Malinda Lo, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, and Jodi Picoult—have filed a lawsuit against the state of Iowa over a recently-enacted law that prohibits any books describing or depicting sex from appearing in public school or classroom libraries. The law, SF 496, also restricts books that include themes of sexual orientation or gender identity from students through sixth grade. (Other plaintiffs include the Iowa State Education Association, one Iowa librarian, two teachers, and one high school student.) The suit claims the book ban provisions of the law violate the First and Fourteenth […]
Archives for November 2023
Best Of: WSJ
The Wall Street Journal announced their 10 best books of the year.
Waterstones Book of the Year
Quarto to Go Private
As we suggested well over a year ago, there has been little reason for Quarto Publishing to continue operating as a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange — and on Thursday morning, the company announced a plan to go private. CK Lau and his Honk Kong-based company 1010 Printing Limited already have a controlling 50.08 percent stake in Quarto, with lead minority investor Andrea Giunti Lombardo owning 22.34 percent. The stock trades very lightly, and fell substantially at the end of August when Quarto reported a 16 percent decline in sales for the first six months of their […]
People 11/30
Erica Gelbard has joined Chronicle as associate director, publicity.
Pan Macmillan Appoints Global AI Head
At Pan Macmillan, Sara Lloyd has been appointed to the new position of group communications director and global AI lead. Communications and publicity directors of Pan Macmillan’s imprints will report to her, and she will coordinate on AI strategy with all of the company’s English-speaking divisions worldwide. Llyod “will chair a newly established global trade AI steering group, coordinating the group’s approach to AI safety and ethics, and will develop cross-group principles and policies in line with AI developments,” the Bookseller reports. Lloyd said, “As part of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, the impetus to lean into new technologies, innovate and […]