Sarah MacLachlan will retire as president and publisher of House of Anansi Press and president of Groundwood Books at the end of June. She has been with the company for 16 years. Bruce Walsh, former publisher of University of Regina Press, will succeed her as publisher of House of Anansi. Semareh Al-Hillal, current publisher of Groundwood, will move over to president role, while Karen Li will become publisher. Li was previously editorial director of Owlkids Books. MacLachlan said in a statement, “Over the years I have had the privilege of working with the most talented creators and the best people […]
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Book Expo Knows You’re Already Worried About Their Show (and Maybe Mad At Reed), So Issues Update, While Staying On Track
Book Expo officials are moving to get in front of community concerns about COVID-19, following the London Book Fair’s reluctant cancellation of their show. (Both shows are part of Reed Exhibitions.) Event director Jenny Martin writes in a statement, “The effect of the COVID-19 virus on the publishing business and our people is significant and difficult to navigate. Many industry events outside of the United States, have had to make difficult decisions about proceeding with their events. We understand the impact that has on the publishing industry and we want to be proactive and transparent about BookExpo.” For now: “BookExpo […]
The Shoe Drops at ViacomCBS, Which Will Explore Sale of Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy wrote to staff Wednesday morning “to let you know that today ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish announced that the company is beginning the process by which ViacomCBS will potentially sell Simon & Schuster.” Bakish was speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco: “We’ve been conducting a portfolio review of our company. And coming out of that we’ve made the determination that Simon and Schuster is not a core asset of the company. It is not video based; it doesn’t have significant connectivity to our broader business. At the same […]
People, Etc.
Chad Zimmerman has joined the University of Chicago Press as executive editor for economics, business, and public policy. He was previously at Oxford University Press, where he built OUP’s list in public health. Joseph Calamia has joined the University of Chicago Press as senior editor for the sciences. He was previously at Yale University Press. At Laurence King Publishing, Alex Coumbis has been promoted to publicity manager. Anastasia Scott has been promoted to marketing and publicity manager. Morgan Baden will join Gotham Ghostwriters as creative director. Baden was previously at Scholastic for 11 years, most recently as vice president of corporate […]
London Book Fair Finally Cancels
Reed Exhibitions cancelled London Book Fair on Wednesday morning, “following the escalation of COVID-19 Coronavirus in Europe.” They said in a statement, “The effects, actual and projected, of Coronavirus are becoming evident across all aspects of our lives here in the UK and across the world, with many of our participants facing travel restrictions. We have been following UK government guidelines and working with the rolling advice from the public health authorities and other organisations, and so it is with reluctance that we have taken the decision not to go ahead with this year’s event.” That reluctance has been in […]
Reed Is Holding the London Book Fair, Dubbed “The Nightmare of Epidemiologists,” without All of You
The UK government is not ready to ban public events of scale yet, and Reed Exhibitions is apparently not ready to face the costs of a voluntary cancellation and continues to vow that the London Book Fair will proceed next week. The show is an increasing outlier, with the big Leipzig Book Fair canceling next week’s show. More companies have announced that they will skip the fair and protect their employees, now including a number of UK-based companies and divisions. Penguin Random House, which officially had only made the show optional for US employees — most of whom opted out […]