Children’s book publisher Albert Whitman has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois. According to the filing, the company owes approximately $1.66 million to creditors, the largest sum being nearly $256,000 to Lakeside Book Company. For years now, going back to 2020 but also recently, there have been complaints about the publisher being delinquent on royalty payments. In 2023, Whitman sold the rights to the Boxcar Children books to Random House Children’s.
New Books Publishing April 22
This week’s fiction releases include books from Emily Henry, Lydia Millet, Anne Hillerman, and Morgan Jerkins, while new nonfiction includes Joan Didion’s journal for her husband, José Andrés’s life lessons, and Alan Weisman’s profiles of the people fighting climate change. 17 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-april-22 17 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-april-22 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming months on Bookshop. Check out April‘s 77 fiction releases, 21 works of nonfiction, and 32 children’s titles; and May‘s 119 fiction releases, 70 works of nonfiction, and 43 […]
May Library Reads
People 4/22
People 4/21
Spotify To Invest To Develop French and Dutch Audiobooks
Spotify announced that it will spend €1 million to partner with publishers and authors to increase audiobook production in non-English languages, beginning with French and Dutch. The audiobooks that Spotify “cofunds” will be nonexclusive and available to upload on any platform. Though the company “believes in the power of human narration” and will “continue to work with partners and the narrator community to bring these titles to fans in French and Dutch languages,” they will also offer an option for narration by an AI voice, “to help make audiobook production more cost-effective for those partners who require a lower barrier […]