Thomas J. McCormack, 92, longtime chairman, ceo, and editorial director of St. Martin’s Press, died at his home on Saturday, June 15. McCormack began his book publishing career as an editor for Anchor books in 1959. He became ceo of St. Martin’s Press in 1970, expanding the publisher from $2.5 million in annual sales to more than $250 million. The company writes: “McCormack was a legend in the industry. He inspired a generation of publishing leaders through his generosity of spirit and knowledge, business savvy, and deep passion for the work we do as publishers. Quite simply, he was one […]
Archives for June 2024
New Books Publishing June 18
This week’s fiction releases include new titles by Clare Lombardo, Riley Sager, Rachel Cusk, and Akwaeke Emezi, while Tiya Miles and Francine Prose publish nonfiction works. Also publishing this week is Catherine Newman’s SANDWICH, which is excerpted in our Buzz Books 2024: Spring/Summer sampler. 20 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-june-18 10 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-june-18 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 June‘s 68 fiction releases, 28 works of […]
Imprints: Saturday Books
St. Martin’s is launching a new imprint, Saturday Books, that will specialize in “new adult” titles for 18-30 year old readers. The Wednesday Books team, vp and editorial director Sara Goodman and vp and associate publisher Eileen Rothschild, will lead the imprint. First titles will debut in fall 2025, with 10-12 planned per year. The publisher describes the imprint’s identity as “commercial and voice-driven fiction with a special focus on fantasy, speculative fiction, romance and genre-adjacent fiction.” Authors on the roster so far include Kristen Ciccarelli, Betty Cayouette, Talia Hibbert, Isabel Ibañez, Julia Jones, Kim Liggett, Elle McNicoll, Stephanie Perkins, […]
OUP USA Union to Strike on June 18
Members of the Oxford University Press USA union will stage a one-day strike on Tuesday, June 18, and will protest outside the company’s US headquarters from 8 AM – 12 PM. The union has made several claims that the company has violated US labor law. In March, the National Labor Relations Board found merit in the claims that OUP has moved work outside the bargaining unit by hiring non-union employees to replace union members who left the company. According to a union press release, the NLRB has not yet filed the official complaint. The union also asserts that the company […]
Adult Book Sales Grew 25% In April
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) released StatShot sales data for April, reporting $657 million in adult and children’s sales for the month, an increase of 19 percent over last year, when sales reached only $551.5 million — and still strong compared to $629 million in 2022. The strong AAP data comes as Circana Bookscan continues to show renewed strength among consumers, with five consecutive weeks of print sales running ahead of the same period a year ago. For weekly sales ending June 8, Bookscan showed print sales up 3 percent over the same week in 2023. Adult books sold […]
Self-Published Author Sues Amazon Over Audiobook Monopoly
Romance author Christine DeMaio, who writes as CD Reiss, has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that the retail giant’s dominance in audiobook sales eliminates competition and leads to supracompetitive pricing for self-published authors. The suit is filed by class-action law firm Hagens Berman, which was the first to bring the ebook price fixing suit against publishers and Apple in 2011. (Since then, less successfully, the firm has filed suits against Amazon and the large trade publishers over the retailer’s ebook monopoly.) The filing states that Amazon, through the Audible ACX program, charges independent authors a fee […]