Quirk Books has instituted a four-day work week for all of their 24 employees, on a yearlong trial basis. Hours will not be affected Monday-Thursday, and Thursday is an in-office work day. SVP, publisher Jhanteigh Kupihea; founder and president Dave Borgenicht; and svp, sales, marketing, and publicity Nicole De Jackmo write in a statement to PL: “Our executive leadership team has focused a lot on compensation, benefits, and promotions in the last two years but we wanted to pursue a more substantial solution to burnout and the work-life imbalance that’s common to our industry.” They continue, “Our colleagues work really […]
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Scholastic to Combine Book Fairs and Clubs In New School Reading Events Group
Scholastic announced today that it would combine its Book Fairs and Book Clubs divisions into one “integrated school reading events business,” which will launch in June. President and ceo Peter Warwick said in a release: “Today, these highly differentiated, uniquely Scholastic businesses have significant overlap and synergies in their customers and operations. By integrating both Clubs and Fairs into a single, aligned organization, we’re excited about the multiple opportunities to expand Scholastic’s impact, serve our customers better and improve efficiencies.” Book Fairs president Sasha Quinton will lead the new division. Book Clubs president Judy Newman will transition to a new […]
Library of Congress Makes Pandemic Copyright Deposit Accommodation Permanent, Will Transition to “Mostly-Digital System”
The Library of Congress recently announced changes to its copyright registration deposit requirements. Notably, they have made permanent an accommodation created during the pandemic that allows people to upload digital copies of the material they would like to deposit, in advance of sending hard copies, for faster approval. The LOC writes that applicants who are required to submit a physical copy of the best edition are now “allowed to upload a digital copy of the work and a deposit declaration form confirming that they have sent or intend to send the required physical copies within three days.” The Office “examines […]
Co-Author Loberg Accepts Blame, As More Plagiarism Is Found In Agus’s Three Earlier Books
After revelations of plagiarism in Dr. David Agus’s THE BOOK OF ANIMAL SECRETS, which will be delayed as the author corrects the copied passages, the LA Times found more evidence of plagiarism in Agus’s previous books. The paper found more than 120 instances plagiarism in THE END OF ILLNESS (Free Press, 2012), A SHORT GUIDE TO A LONG LIFE (S&S, 2014), and THE LUCKY YEARS (S&S, 2016), all published by Simon & Schuster. Agus’s co-author Kristen Loberg took the blame. In a statement to the Times, she said, “I accept complete responsibility for any errors my work may have contained. […]
R.L. Stine Says He Didn’t Make Years-Old Goosebumps Edits
In the wake of reports of classic books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming being revised, R.L. Stine responded to reports that he made changes to his Goosebumps series to remove potentially offensive language. Though many reports imply that the novels are currently being edited and reissued, including changing numerous instances of the word “crazy,” Scholastic stated that the changes took place when the classic novels were republished years ago. “I’ve never changed a word in Goosebumps. Any changes were never shown to me,” Stine wrote on Twitter. Many books in the series were re-released in paperback from 2008-2011, and […]
Penguin Random House Joins in Raising Starting Salaries
Following increases in starting salaries at the other large trade publishers, Penguin Random House told employees on Tuesday that it will also raise their entry level salary on April 3, to $48,000. That “will apply to incoming and existing employees in most non-warehouse locations.” As a result, “minimum salaries for other, non-entry-level roles where minimum salaries have been established will also increase accordingly,” and “to address compression of salaries, employees at adjacent salary levels will also receive adjustments.” Second-level non-exempt roles will start at $53,000, while at the higher end senior marketing and sales managers will make at least $76,000 […]