Following the announcement that Bookforum will shutter after its winter issue, an article in The New Yorker reports that Penske Media recently acquired only sister publication Artforum, and the company says the decision to close Bookforum “is unrelated to Penske Media.” Bookforum announced its closure on December 12, just one week after PMC bought Artforum. As the magazine puts it, “Acquiring the art magazine without its scrappier literary offspring seems to have secured Bookforum’s demise.” Kate Koza, associate publisher of Artforum told The New Yorker, “The publication of Bookforum was no longer financially possible without Artforum’s income and efficiencies.” In the […]
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Hachette Announces “30/30 Strategy” to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Hachette Livre has announced a plan to reduce its carbon emissions 30 percent by 2030. This will include: “a 30% reduction in the proportion of books that are shredded, a 26% reduction in carbon intensity of paper manufacturing, an 18% reduction in carbon intensity of book printing and binding, and 1% and 1.5% annual reductions in upstream and downstream freight respectively.” The strategy was developed with the help of French consulting firm Carbone 4, which previously helped the company reduce emissions in France by 20 percent. The new plan will apply to all Hachette Livre companies worldwide. They write in […]
Less Than A Week After Being Sold, Bookforum Announces Closure
The admired book review magazine Bookforum, founded in 1994, will close, and the current December/January/February issue will be their last, the magazine announced online Monday. The publishers noted, “We would like to thank our extraordinarily talented staff and writers. We are so proud of the contribution Bookforum has made to the literary community and are immensely grateful to the advertisers, subscribers and booksellers who made our mission possible over the years.” Just last week, Bookforum’s parent Artforum International Magazine was acquired by Penske Media Corporation. Penske already owned ARTnews and Art in America, and clearly was only interested in Artforum.
National Book Foundation Looks Ahead
The NBF released their strategic plan through 2025, following an extensive survey process. Among their goals is to double the viewership of the National Book Awards, “establish an ongoing fund to support the literary field” through a “permanent iteration of the Literary Arts Emergency Fund,” add two or three new staff positions with a focus on development and programmatic work, and “formalize the Foundation’s commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion.”
Publishing’s “Expressive” Year
Hillel Italie at the AP looks at the turbulent year in and around book publishing, including comments from a number of executives. Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp remarks: “We are living in expressive times.” Penguin Random House US ceo Madeline McIntosh speaks to what Italie calls “the emerging influence of younger employees.” She says, “Some of us are sounding like the older generation during the rise of the hippies, where we’re like ‘Kids these days, what on Earth are they up to?’ Given the state of the world today, it’s completely logical that Gen Z is determined to change […]
Macmillan Reported Consumer Data Breach Following Summer’s Security Incident
Following Macmillan’s data network “security incident” in June, on Monday the company acknowledged in a filing with the Texas Attorney General’s office, in compliance with state law, that the breach of their systems “resulted in consumer names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and financial account information being compromised.” According to this account on JD Supra, “the breached information varies depending on the individual.” They report that, “Macmillan sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident. While the exact number of people who were impacted by […]