At Simon & Schuster, Melissa Hurt has been promoted to telemarketing account manager. Tricia Orlando joins as telesales account manager. She was previously with Norton in the trade sales department.
Sharismar Rodriguez has joined Macmillan Children’s as senior art director for Feiwel and Friends, Holt, Roaring Brook Press, and FSG Children’s lists. Previously, she was art director at HMH.
At HarperCollins Children’s, Jane Lee has been promoted to associate director, social media; Tyler Breitfeller to senior marketing associate; and Michael D’Angelo to marketing associate.
Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally, 81, died Tuesday due to complications from the coronavirus.
Wine writer Michael Broadbent, 92, also died Tuesday, in England.
Bonuses
Following Bertelsmann’s reporting of 2019 results, Penguin Random House US ceo Madeline McIntosh wrote to staff announcing a special bonus payment. “Everyone participated in our 2019 achievements, and I’m more grateful than ever to be part of a company that shares the rewards of success when we can.” Every regular employee who is not otherwise eligible for a bonus will receive a one-time payment of $856 (prorated based on 2019 service).
With “many more challenging days ahead” likely, McIntosh writes, “I have never been more proud of us as a company as I am right now. Our core values—creativity, ingenuity, perseverance, mutual care, and respect—have been on full display as we’ve bobbed and weaved together through the hour-by-hour challenges to our business.”
Status
Baker & Taylor Publisher Services‘ facilities in Ashland, OH remain open and operational — but in the UK Baker & Taylor has closed its Bicester warehouse for everything but “urgent and essential matters.”
Sales
NPD Bookscan is helpfully provided detailed weekly briefings on “content trends that are up and down” in the print book market during these uncertain times. For the week ending March 14,
Studying from home/what to do with the kids was the biggest group showing gains during the week, followed by reading for pleasure. Among specific sub-categories of scale, in terms of their overall size, the biggest increases in sales last week were for literary fiction (22%); kids’ activity books (27%); personal memoirs (67%); and self-help (63%), followed by kids’ study aids, and coloring books.
In more granular reporting on some of those kids’ books, Workman tells the NYT they have ordered reprints of about 3 million copies of their Brain Quest and Big Fact Notebook series in the last two weeks, along with a reprint of almost 1 million copies of their Paint By Sticker activity book series.
Four of the six largest categories that declined during the week were various sub-categories of Christian life books, along with personal growth titles and diet books. (As ever, agents and authors and some others can subscribe to full Bookscan access through PublishersMarketplace.com.)
Call for Previews
Once again we are finalizing our latest Buzz Books 2020: Fall/Winter sampler, which will include extensive seasonal preview/overview listings of notable titles on the way. We compile these big roundups by looking at publisher catalogs, our own comprehensive monthly lists of significant forthcoming books; hints from our substantial flow of deal reports; aggregation of “anticipated books” lists from other publications; word-of-mouth within the industry; and more.
If you have notable fall/winter titles you would like to have considered for the preview list — particularly ones you are concerned we might have missed from the regular signals, along with drop-ins and rescheduled releases — now is your chance to let us know. Please email us your suggestions no later than April 3, and make sure to include author, title, imprint, and pub date. Send to Erin Somers (erin@publishersmarketplace.com).