Hannah Allaman has joined Delacorte as associate editor. She was previously assistant editor at Disney-Hyperion. At the University of Texas Press, Robert Devens has been promoted from assistant director to director. Since joining the press in 2013, they say Devens “led the editorial department toward greater successes in its many core areas — from the establishment of new series in fields ranging from Latinx studies to film studies, to more extensive general interest offerings in areas such as biography and music.” Awards The International Booker Prize has postponed the announcement of this year’s winner, set for May 19. They are […]
Crisis reference
Bloomsbury Announces Capital Raise and Cost-Cutting; Lagardere Continues Fight with Activist Hedge Fund
Bloomsbury announced a series of actions to raise capital and reduce expenses, preparing for a “prudent downside scenario” projecting the impact of the pandemic, which assumes “a 75% decline in print revenues and gradual retailer re-openings, to recovery in January 2021.” The company will raise approximately £8.4 million in cash by selling an additional 3.77 million shares (or 5 percent of the existing issued share capital) to “provide financial flexibility to the Company to enable it to maintain appropriate investment to capitalise on future commercial opportunities, whilst ensuring it remains within its banking covenants.” They note that, “Should a prolonged […]
Free Resources: The Latest Updates
Our set of free reference resources continues to grow and change as the effects of the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders continue. New April 14 book releases See some of the notable new fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books released this week that need attention and support. And check our shops at Bookshop and Aerbook for more new releases from the past few weeks. Track major pub date changes We are tracking (and organizing by original release date) the continuing wave of changes in publication dates for hundreds of notable titles as well at publun.ch/pubdatechanges. Help for booksellers — and authors, illustrators and other […]
Briefs
At Canongate, Andrea Joyce has stepped down as rights director after 13 years with the company. Jessica Neale succeeds her as rights and contracts director. Forthcoming Penguin Random House will publish a digital cookbook on May 5 to benefit restaurants and their workers, priced at $5.99, FAMILY MEAL: Recipes from Our Community. It features over 40 recipes by chefs and home cooks who publish with PRH imprint, covering what they are cooking and drinking at home right now, and all proceeds will benefit the RWCF COVID 19 Crisis Relief Fund. It includes a foreword from Restaurant Workers’ Community Fund co-founder […]
Status: News Corp Warns On Virus Impact, Indigo Rehires Some Employees with Government Support
News Corp joined other public companies in issuing a formal notice to investors that the COVID-19 pandemic “is expected to adversely affect the Company’s business and results of operations,” detailing the negative impact across its businesses. At HarperCollins, “Sales are expected to be adversely affected by shipping restrictions and delays imposed by online retailers, as well as closures of brick-and-mortar retail stores.” Those declines are mitigated in part by “an increase in sales of digital formats of its titles.” The company advises that it is “implementing cost-savings initiatives company-wide,” without providing any further details on pay cuts, furloughs or other […]
People, Etc.
Holly Harris will join Simon & Schuster UK as publishing director, non-fiction, adult publishing division, starting July 6. She is currently editorial and media development director at Penguin Random House UK children’s division. Crooked Lane has a multi-year agreement with Dreamscape Media for production and distribution of audiobooks. Relief Poets & Writers has created a COVID-19 Relief Fund to “provide emergency assistance to writers having difficulty meeting their basic needs.” They will provide grants of up to $1,000 to approximately 80 writers in April. The board allocated $50,000, which has been supplemented by gifts from supporters including Michael Piestch […]