Novelist Ursula Hegi, 80, died on July 27. Her 1994 novel, Stones from the River, was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner award and was an Oprah’s Book Club pick in 1997.
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Imprints: Fort Point
Beacon Press will launch a fiction imprint, Fort Point, which “seeks original works that pair literary ambition with fresh perspectives and distinctive voices.” “Fort Point will champion fiction that invites readers into new ways of seeing and inspires new generations to imagine a more expansive world,” said director of Beacon Press director Gayatri Patnaik, who will acquire for the imprint, along with editorial director Amy Caldwell and editors Maya Fernandez and Haley Lynch.
Obituary: Benjamin Alire Saenz
Novelist and poet Benjamin Alire Sáenz, 71, died on July 28 after a “lengthy illness,” the El Paso Times reports. His 2012 novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, won a Printz honor and Pura Belpré award and sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. Saenz also won the 2013 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his novel Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club. Sáenz’s novel When the World Was Happy is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster Children’s on Sept. 29. His Teen Librarian Toolbox post about the book is his last completed essay.
Lagardere Publishing Sales Flat In Second Quarter
Lagardere announced results for the second quarter, with publishing sales flat at €728 million. “Lagardère Publishing demonstrated its resilience in challenging markets thanks especially to the strength of its diversified businesses,” chair and ceo Arnaud Lagardère said in a release. “In the trade segment, the portfolio benefited from publishing successes and robust international backlist sales. The division is also enjoying very good momentum in Spain and Latin America, while Board Games and Partworks are continuing to support growth.” In the first half of the year, publishing sales were €1.343 billion compared to €1.349 billion last year, down 0.4 percent, though […]
Defendants Awarded Legal Fees in ‘Crave’ Copyright Suit
A court has ordered Lynne Freeman to pay the legal fees for the author, agent, and publisher she took to court for copyright infringement over Wolff’s “Crave” series, in a claim that was deemed “objectively unreasonable” by a judge. Defendants Tracy Wolff, Emily Sylvan Kim, and Entangled will produce receipts for their fee reimbursement, which is expected to be approximately $3.4 million. Freeman must also pay a bond of $150,000, which will cover the defendants’ legal fees for Freeman’s pending appeal. In her decision, Judge Colleen McMahon writes that the case was brought in bad faith. Quoting from a previous decision, she […]