The New York Times magazine posted a comprehensive piece on the past, present, and future of diversity in publishing—hiring staff, acquiring books, and cultivating audiences who aren’t white. For “Inside the Push to Diversify the Book Business,” Times magazine writer Marcela Valdes interviewed more than 50 current and former publishing professionals, as well as authors, “about the previous unsuccessful attempts to cultivate Black audiences and about an industry culture that still struggles to overcome the clubby, white elitism it was born in.” She also pulls from her own experience in publishing and as a critic and editor. When she joined […]
B&N, Publishers, Authors Respond to Virginia Obscenity Case
Barnes & Noble, Bloomsbury and Sarah J. Maas, and Oni Press and Maia Kobabe have filed motions to dismiss the case that alleges A Court of Mist and Fury and Gender Queer are “obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors,” the Virginian-Pilot reports. Barnes & Noble states that the court cannot restrict access to minors “while allowing adults unrestricted access.” While the original petition references excerpts from the books, the authors and publishers say that the books as a whole are not obscene “under state and constitutional law.” They also argue that the petition should be dismissed because the books have […]
New Books Publishing June 21
Ottessa Moshfegh, Hilary Mantel and Riley Sager lead this week’s fiction releases, while nonfiction includes new work from Ed Yong. 19 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-june-21 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_June_/223191 9 nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-june-21 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_June_/223192 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming three months through this reference page. But if you want to make sure your key titles are on our radar, now you can use this form to submit brief details as well: publun.ch/submitNotable. Please submit your notable titles at least 3 months prior to pub date.
OCLC Sues Clarivate for Stealing Library Catalog Records
OCLC has filed a lawsuit against Clarivate and its subsidiaries Clarivate Analytics, ProQuest and ExLibris for “tortious interference of contract, tortious interference of prospective business relationships, and conspiracy to do the same.” ExLibris is developing a collaborative cataloging system called MetaDoor, a competitor to WorldCat, OCLC’s collective catalog of library bibliographic content that is populated by library members who are contracted with OCLC. (OCLC says 8,000 libraries have WorldCat subscriptions.) The suit alleges that Clarivate has built MetaDoor with data from WorldCat, given to them by OCLC customers—a breach of those customers’ contract with OCLC. “In addition to tortiously interfering […]
China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair Postponed Again
The China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair has been postponed until November 18-22 due to recent Covid outbreaks and restrictions, returning to a fall schedule. It was previously scheduled for March 20-22, then July 22-24.
People 6/16
Jessica Tribble Wells has been promoted to executive editor, Amazon Crossing and Thomas & Mercer.