Author and journalist Gita Mehta, 80, died on September 16. She was the widow of longtime Knopf editor-in-chief and Knopf Doubleday chairman Sonny Mehta.
Excerpt Highlights October Romney Biography
A newsmaking excerpt from McKay Coppins’ forthcoming biography ROMNEY: A Reckoning aligned with the Senator’s announcement he will not seek re-election. And the serial in the Atlantic adds the book to the list of high-profile memoirs and biographies looking to lift nonfiction sales this fall. Romney told Coppins of his decision not to run “earlier this year.” He “began meeting with Romney in the spring of 2021. The senator hadn’t told anyone he was talking to a biographer, and we kept our interviews discreet.” The excerpt includes many quotable stories, including the revelation that Romney texted Senator Mitch McConnell on […]
This Is How Real Libraries Work Diligently to Preserve and Provide Out-of-Print eBooks, Legally
This article from a University of California digital librarian describing efforts from the New York Public Library is a wonderful counterpoint to the huffery and puffery from the Internet Archive. The NYPL is actually doing the hard work of complying with the law and working with creators and rightsholders, and innovating on everyone’s behalf along the way, while also managing to digitize and lend legally a corpus of works. Renata Ewing writes: “NYPL’s approach is to work collaboratively with authors and publishers to secure licenses to permit patrons to access in-copyright out-of-print works without impacting the commercial value of those […]
Imprints: Bonnier Books UK Adds Children’s Line
Bonnier Books UK will launch the nonfiction children’s imprint Hatch Press in January 2024, planning to publish about 30 titles a year. The line, focused on “hands-on learning, and art and activity titles for fledgling readers between 3-12 years old,” is led by Kieran Hood. The imprint is based on republished editions of the backlist of Salariya, the rights to which Bonnier acquired last November after the publisher was liquidated.
Murphy to Leave Harper; Stehlik to Add Oversight of Children’s Division
President and publisher of Harper Children’s Suzanne Murphy “will be leaving the company to pursue other interests” at the end of September, the company announced. President and publisher for the Morrow Group Liate Stehlik will take on additional responsibilities, serving as president and publisher for Harper Children’s as well. Murphy, who joined the company in 2015, says in the announcement, “It has been an honor to work with our amazingly talented authors and illustrators, my brilliant, creative, and passionate teams across the Children’s division, and valued colleagues throughout the company. It also has been a highlight of my career in […]
Penguin Random House Will Reduce Office Space, “Encourage” Employees to Return “More Frequently”
Penguin Random House interim ceo Nihar Malaviya wrote to US employees on Tuesday about adjustments to their policy on office attendance as well as their use of space at 1745 Broadway. Notably, the company will “reduce our footprint at 1745 Broadway this fall” in order to “save costs on the spaces that are not being used today.” The company declined to indicate how many floors they expect to vacate. (In 2016, PRH took over all of the office condo space from floors 2 through 23, with the exception of the 20th floor, in a lease extension running through mid-2033.) Malaviya […]