At Penguin Random House Canada, the originating publisher of Jordan B. Peterson, at least some employees objected to the news that the company will publish his second book in March. The company held a virtual town hall on Monday after announcing publication, “during which executives defended the decision to publish Peterson while employees cited their concerns about platforming someone who is popular in far-right circles,” Vice reports based on speaking to four employees. The publisher said in a statement, “We held a forum and provided a space for our employees to express their views and offer feedback. Our employees have […]
Bookstores
NAIBA Board Pauses to Acknowledge Covid Exhaustion, Shares Tools for Indies
Despite many positive indicators that publishing has rebounded amidst the pandemic, there is a parallel reality: Many in the bookselling community have continued to struggle, and the challenges have grown as the country faces the potential of more retail limitations or shutdowns during the critical holiday season. The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association sent an emotional email yesterday to members yesterday to acknowledge the struggle. The board voiced the need to “Take a moment to mourn the stores lost this year to Covid-19, from legacy stores to stores that opened with hope in the last few years; to acknowledge the […]
People, Etc.
In advance of the sale of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade division, senior executive editor Rick Wolff recently accepted a voluntary buyout package, and he will leave HMH in mid-December. Wolff, “who has no plans to retire, was a minor league baseball player in the Detroit Tigers organization before entering book publishing.” At Harper Christian and Harper Focu, Jerri Helm was promoted to vp of digital marketing and analytics, continuing to lead the marketing operations team while also assuming responsibility for the corporate analytics team. Bookselling Politics and Prose is looking to change the paradigm around author events, from free promotion […]
People, Etc.
Kyle Gipson will join Basic Books on January 4 as associate editor. Most recently, he was an assistant acquisitions editor at Johns Hopkins University Press. At Random House Children’s Joshua Redlich has been promoted to publicity manager. Aaron Reese has joined as a senior marketing manager, digital content. Previously, he was a freelance writer and editor. Vincent Perez has joined as a production associate. He was previously production coordinator at Marvel Entertainment. Angelique Tran Van Sang will join Felicity Bryan Associates as an agent in March. She is currently commissioning editor at Bloomsbury UK. The NYT rounds up some advance numbers […]
People, Etc.
Alison Rich has been promoted to the newly created role of senior vice president, author development, Penguin Random House, reporting to Nina von Moltke. She “will take the lead in helping us push further with the author brand development work.” Rich continues to oversee licensing-business development for the adult divisions, the Out of Print merchandising group, and the Author Portal, which will “look to build functionality and programming.” Newly reporting to her is vp, executive director PRH Speakers Bureau Tiffany Tomlin. Laura Eckes has been promoted to senior designer for Simon & Schuster Children’s and Paula Wiseman Books. At Atheneum, […]
The Second Wave: Book Sales Lockdowns in Europe
As France and the UK impose broad lockdowns again in the wake of rapidly rising Covid-19 infections, the treatment of book sales is receiving more focused attention this time versus the spring shutdowns. In France, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Sunday night that he would prohibit supermarkets — which are still open — from selling non-essential products including books “as a matter of fairness” to specialty retailers such as bookstores, which are closed. This morning, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the government would consider allowing small stores to reopen as early as November 12, rather than December 1, […]