France’s largest book club, France Loisirs, with retail shops as well, announced earlier this week that its year in bankruptcy reorganization is over. In late December, the Paris Commercial Court approved a two-part recovery plan, sources told Agence France-Presse. The first phase, implemented in 2018, preserved 437 jobs (out of a workforce of about 1800 people), closed 35 stores, and moved the corporate headquarters from Paris to Gentilly. The second part of the plan will reportedly refocus the business on books. (In 2013, the company had expanded into cosmetics sales.) The club says it still has over 1 million members. […]
Bookstores
Briefs: BN Book Club Expands, Costa Awards, and More
Picks Barnes & Noble has named Marie Benedict’s The Only Woman in the Room as the January selection for the chain’s Book Club. Quarterly-ish until now (the last selection was Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing in September), the company said the club will now convene monthly “at all store nationwide,” which they say is “due to its overwhelming popularity with customers.” Awards The Costa Award category winners were announced, going to: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton (First Novel); Normal People, Sally Rooney (Novel); The Cut Out Girl, Bart van Es (Biography); Assurances, J.O. Morgan (Poetry); The Skylarks’ War, Hilary McKay (Children’s). […]
People, Etc.
Claire Eddy has been promoted to executive editor at Tor/Forge Books. Carina Guiterman joined Simon & Schuster editor as editor. She was previously at Little, Brown. Jackson Howard was promoted to assistant editor at Farrar, Straus. Alexis Gilbert has joined Grand Central Publishing’s marketing team as assistant director of advertising. Caroline Eisenmann has been promoted to agent at Frances Goldin Literary Agency. At Hachette Book Group, Dylan Hoke has been promoted to the newly created role of senior vice president, publishing operations and strategy. Ruiko Tokunaga becomes executive director, print production. In the UK, former Ebury executive Jake Lingwood will join Octopus […]
People, Etc.
Cara Bedick joins Chronicle Books as executive editor of Mark Tauber’s new imprint. She was most recently a senior editor at Touchstone. Iris Hsieh has been appointed associate director, China sales & product management, Penguin Random House International sales & marketing. She will oversee the company’s export strategies across all channels within China, reporting to Cyrus Kheradi. Samantha Simon has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as associate marketing manager for Lifestyle. She was previously digital content manager at Coaction Public Relations. Andrea Concaildi has joined Sourcebooks as marketing associate, ecommerce. At Princeton University Press, Caroline Priday becomes global promotions director and Julia Hall is promoted […]
Briefs
Ashley Collom is joining Thompson Literary Agency as literary agent January 7. She was previously an agent and the head assistant at DeFiore and Company. Brian Garfield, 79, screenwriter and author of more than 70 books, died on December 29. Garfield’s book nonfiction book The Thousand-Mile War was a Pulitzer finalist, and his book Hopscotch won an Edgar. Bookselling NYC blog Bowery Boogie reports that McNally Jackson will not be moving from its original Prince Street location after all. The site initially reported last October that the store would be moving due to a rent increase, and at the time the […]
Briefs
At Lerner Publishing Group, Rachel Zugschwert has been promoted to vp, marketing, and Greg Hunter to editorial director, Graphic Universe, both effective January 1, 2019. Forthcoming Zadie Smith‘s first short story collection GRAND UNION will be published by Penguin Press in fall 2019, and in the UK by Hamish Hamilton on October 3, 2019. It will contain ten new stories, as well as 10 more of “her very best, drawn from two decades of remarkable short fiction.” Initiatives Boston creative writing center GrubStreet has been selected by the city to open a new “civic-cultural space” on the first and second floors of Fifty […]