Beth Vesel, 66, president of Beth Vesel Literary Agency, died suddenly of a heart attack on February 16. Her publishing career spanned 40 years, first at Watkins/Loomis Agency, and later at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. She founded BVLA in 2003. A funeral will be held on Friday, February 23 at 6 pm at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W. 64th St, New York City. Jeff Wilson, vice president, contracts at Hachette Book Group, died on Wednesday, February 14. Wilson joined HBG in December 2022 after a long career at Simon & Schuster. Min Lee, evp, general counsel […]
Archives for February 2024
People 2/20
Roger Priddy, publisher of Priddy Books, will retire on June 30, after which he will continue to work with the imprint as an author and consultant.
Freelance Publicists Keep the Stress of In-House Publicity But Earn Higher Paychecks
It’s a common fantasy. On a stressful day in the office, inbox overflowing, being pulled from meeting to meeting, while the work never seems to end: What if I worked for myself? In reality, is the flexibility of freelance work worth the financial worries, the hustle for the next contract, and being constantly available to clients? For many freelance book publicists, the answer is a resounding yes. As part of our continued series on compensation, we spoke with independent publicists—those working solo or at small firms—about their rates, their take-home pay, and how the stress doesn’t go down when you’re […]
New Books Publishing February 20
Cory Doctorow and A.J. Finn publish novels this week, while new nonfiction includes works by Leslie Jamison and Marie Arana. Also out this week is Madeleine Gray’s GREEN DOT, which is excerpted in our Buzz Books 2023: Fall/Winter anthology. 13 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-february-20 11 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-february-20 From Buzz Books https://buzz.publishersmarketplace.com/ We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming months on Bookshop. Check out February‘s 68 fiction releases, 42 works of nonfiction; and 26 children’s titles; plus March‘s 92 fiction releases, 48 […]
Balzer & Bray Moving to Macmillan from Harper
Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray will move to Macmillan Children’s as of April 15. They will set up a new incarnation of their Balzer + Bray imprint there, with both having the title of SVP and co-publisher. Balzer + Bray was launched in 2008 at Harper Children’s. Existing B+B titles, as well as titles already under contract, will remain at HarperCollins, a spokesperson told us. Beginning in fall 2024, Harper’s B+B books will be published under the imprint of the editorial team to which they have been reassigned. MCPG president and publisher Jen Besser says in the announcement, “The only word […]
Storytel Gains in 2023, But Still Looks to Efficiency
Swedish audiobook company Storytel reported fourth quarter and full year 2023 results on Thursday. Full year sales were SEK3.49 million, up 9 percent. EBITDA was SEK150 million up from SEK(-68) million last year. Operating profit for the year was SEK(-742.3), compared to SEK(-400.5) million the year before. Streaming sales grew 12 percent to SEK3.24 million, or a 9 percent increase at constant currency. Fourth quarter and full-year profit was impacted by significant year-end writedowns of SEK672 million. The biggest, SEK465 million (or roughly $45 million at current exchange) was impairment charges on goodwill attributed to Audiobooks.com, acquired for $135 million. […]