Amazon’s previously-announced 5,800-square-foot bookstore at Legacy Place in Dedham, MA will open on Tuesday, after holding a preview on Saturday. As previously announced, this is Amazon’s first bookstore to open on the East Coast (and fourth to open so far), with at least three more “coming soon” in Lynnfield, MA; Paramus, NJ; and Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. Waterstones is receiving criticism in British media for small-town bookstores they have opened over the past 3 years, charged with “posing as independent bookshops to avoid the backlash against the homogenization of Britain’s high streets,” the Guardian writes. The stores, which are in Rye, Southwold and Harpenden, notify customers of their corporate affiliation with […]
People, Etc.
Kari Sutherland has joined Bradford Literary Agency as an agent. Previously she was an editor at Harper Children’s. Bestselling Australian children’s book author Mem Fox, 70, is giving a face to the excesses of border control under the Trump administration. Now back in Australia, Fox told the media that she was detained and interrogated for two hours at Los Angeles Airport in early February, while traveling to a literary conference in Milwaukee, accused of having the wrong visa. (US officials were in error; Fox has visited the US more than 100 times in the past without incident.) She told Australia’s […]
HarperCollins Launches Book Recommendation Bots
HarperCollins has announced the launch of BookGenie and Epic Reads, two bot-powered book recommendation engines available through Facebook Messenger. Both provide book recommendations through one-on-one chatting. With Bookgenie, readers request a recommendation based on a book they enjoyed, or select from curated recommendations. Epic Reads, related to the publisher’s YA-focused site, allows readers to specify what kind of mood they’re in, as well as what books and authors they enjoy. HarperCollins vice president of marketing Carrie Bloxson said in the announcement, “We’re always looking for ways to help readers discover new books and authors. The BookGenie bot combines the power of […]
People, Etc.
News Corp. has announced that Bedi Singh will step down as chief financial officer on March 1. Susan Panuccio, currently cfo of News Corp. Australia, will succeed him. Executive chairman Rupert Murdoch said in the release: “Through his astute financial management of key acquisitions and divestitures, and with the prudent institution of cost controls across the businesses, Bedi has helped News Corp. weather the challenges of this era better than its peers, and put it on firm footing for long-term growth and profitability.” Singh, who has served as cfo since 2013, will continue to advise the company on digital property interests […]
People, Awards: LA Times Prize Announcements, and More
The Los Angeles Times announced book prize finalists in 11 categories — including a new award for autobiographical prose named in honor of Christopher Isherwood — with the winners to be named April 21. Thomas McGuane will receive the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. Among the nominees are: Fiction Garth Greenwell, What Belongs to You (FSG) Adam Haslett, Imagine Me Gone (Little, Brown) Lydia Millet, Sweet Lamb of Heaven (Norton) Zadie Smith, Swing Time (Penguin Press) Dana Spiotta, Innocents and Others (Scribner) First Fiction Sara Baume, Spill Simmer Falter Wither (HMH) Mark Beauregard, The Whale (Viking) Nathan Hill, The Nix (Knopf) Idra Novey, Ways […]
Forthcoming: Gaiman Sequel to Neverwhere; Millenium Novel Gets a Title
Twenty years after the publication of Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman has announced he is working on a sequel. Gaiman told the audience at an event in London that he is “a solid three chapters” into the project, titled THE SEVEN SISTERS. The Guardian reports that “Gaiman said that he had been prompted to write the sequel both by the changes in the world over the past 20 years and his work with the UN refugee agency.” The original book follows tribes of homeless people as they navigate a fantastical city called London Below. Of his inspiration to write the new book, Gaiman said, […]