We’ve run out of polite synonyms for modest and soft, so we’ll start our final look at the dealmaking patterns leading into the London Book Fair with what jumped out as most distinctive. Debut fiction is always a closely-watched market bellwether, particularly as the mainstream fiction market appears to languish. The good news is that this year’s five weeks of sales and announcements ahead of the fair has recorded the most debuts in the past four years. At the same time, however, reported deals for substantial amounts (major and significant deals) are far lower than at any other point: 2019 […]
Book Fairs
Deal Counts Are Modest Heading Into LBF, With Only Moderate Investment In Debut Fiction
With dealmakers converging on the London Book Fair next week, it’s time for us to bring our traditional dose of statistically-based reality to the frenzy of pre-Fair deals coverage. As always, this is preliminary, with two more business days of deal reports to log before we provide you fuller analysis next Tuesday. So far, the deals market is looking modest, and in line with recent trends: – Overall pre-LBF dealmaking in the US (measured over the five weeks ahead of the fair, starting Monday, February 4) is on trajectory to be even with or slightly below last year’s level. – […]
People: Holt’s EIC Comes From Within
Following the departure of Gillian Blake for Crown Trade in early December, new Holt publisher Ben Schrank has filled the editor-in-chief position from within the company. Executive editor Serena Jones is being promoted to editor in chief. Metropolitan Books publisher and co-founder Sara Bershtel moves up to senior vice president (with Maggie Richards being named a vice president). Schrank notes the Elton John autobiography releases this fall, with the publisher confirming a worldwide publication date of October 15. Publishing director at Penguin Press UK Helen Conford will move to Profile Books in May, where she will take over from Andrew […]
ABA Town Hall: Stock Shortages, Minimum Wage, and More
On the final day of Winter Institute, ABA ceo Oren Teacher announced that next year’s event will take place in Baltimore on January 21-24, 2020. On Thursday morning, the ABA Town Hall began with an update from the diversity task force, which will become a permanent committee going forward. The group is working on a range of projects, including developing a mentorship program, creating a glossary of diversity and inclusion terms for booksellers, working with Edelweiss to add filters pertaining to diversity, and more. Afterward, the floor was was opened to booksellers, who raised a range of concerns. Sarah Pishko of […]
Realistic Expectations at Winter Institute
ABA ceo Oren Teicher spoke to international attendees at a lunchtime session on The State of the U.S. Book Industry, as part of Wednesday’s opening day of Winter Institute (Wi14) in Albuquerque, NM. He struck a cautious note that echoed throughout the day, noting that indie booksellers had “a pretty consistent year,” with a 4.9 percent increase in sales, but didn’t see any particular bumps from this year’s blockbusters. He said, “Things are reasonably healthy. We are always cautious…. There’s good news for sure, but it’s also pretty fragile.” Teicher remarked on seeing younger faces among the more than 700 […]
People, Etc.
Alessandra Bastagli has joined Dey Street Books as executive editor. She was previously editorial director of Nation Books. Warren Bass will leave Penguin Press after almost a year to return to the Wall Street Journal’s weekend Review section, “with a nicely tailored portfolio of commissioning and editing big essays that’ll include lots of ongoing interface with the publishing world.” At Atria, Ariele Fredman has been promoted to associate director of publicity, and Alison Hinchcliffe moved up to associate publicist. Katie Zanecchia, formerly a literary agent at Ross Yoon Agency, has joined PEN America as national outreach program director. Pittsburgh former bookseller Mary Alice Gorman, […]