Penguin Random House UK announced a lease agreement for additional new offices at One Embassy Gardens, between London’s Vauxhall and Battersea, “a short walk” from the existing RH UK office at 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road. The new space has 83,400 square feet across five floors, and includes event space on the ground floor.
The company had announced in summer 2016 that it would vacate Transworld’s offices in Ealing and Penguin’s offices in the Strand to consolidate their employees. The new space will be ready at the end of 2019, and the two buildings with “both…be home to a mix of Penguin Random House departments.” (In the US, PRH is consolidating the downtown Penguin employees into expanded space in their building at 1745 Broadway in early 2019.)
In other PRH news, ceo Markus Dohle uses his annual year-end letter to focus on the company’s social impact: “As a global community of book lovers, we are passionate about making a positive difference in the world. And I believe we do: with our publishing and through our corporate citizenship.” He shares a Social Impact Highlights Summary that features some of their 2020 Commitments, and tells employees, “Thank you for embracing our collective responsibility to defend free speech, lift up marginalized voices, protect our earth, and help those in need.”
In other briefs, the Guardian runs their annual feature in which top UK editors confess to books they published that fell short in the marketplace (“our book that deserved to do better”) and books they wish they had published. In the latter category, Sally Rooney’s debut novel Conversations with Friends is named by three editors.
Separately, following the suspension by PBS of television host and author Tavis Smiley, publisher Hay House, which distributes the Smiley Books imprint, has put forthcoming projects “on hold” pending an internal review. PBS responded to Smiley’s challenge of their review by saying, “The totality of the investigation, which included Mr. Smiley, revealed a pattern of multiple relationships with subordinates over many years.”
People
Earlier this fall New Leaf Literary & Media hired Veronica Grijalva as foreign rights associate (she was at Jane Starr Literary Scouts) and Jeremy Stern as story editor. Additionally, Mia Roman was promoted to foreign rights associate.
Apollo Publishers has announced their launch list of seven spring 2018 titles, to be distributed by Ingram Publisher Services. The company was founded by former Skyhorse coo Alex Merrill (publisher and director of sales) and former Skyhorse editor Julia Abramoff (publisher and director of editorial.
Finally, Happy Bill of Rights Day.