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Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle gave a virtual talk hosted by the Atlantic Council on Monday afternoon, speaking about the pending merger with Simon & Schuster, the success of PRH during COVID, the role of the publisher in our divisive political climate, and more. Asked whether the merger between S&S and PRH potentially jeopardizes freedom of speech and democracy in the US, Dohle said, “I want to be as careful as possible. We are now in the regulatory process. And in very good discussions with the Department of Justice.” However, he noted that, “The book industry is by far […]

Discontinued Dr. Seuss Enterprises will stop publishing and licensing six titles containing offensive images, including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. The company said in a statement that they came to the decision after reviewing their whole catalog with a panel of experts, including educators: “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.” Controversies […]

School Library Journal is facing criticism over its February cover, which some people online have called racist and deeply inappropriate for Black History Month. The cover illustration highlights a white child, holding a book depicting a Black child’s face over her own. The cover story is called “Why White Children Need Diverse Books.” Librarians, teachers, and professors on Twitter noted that both the story and illustration centered white children, a disconcerting choice for February in particular, and that the illustration seemed to simulate blackface. Additionally, multiple presenters have withdrawn from upcoming events. SLJ editor-in-chief Kathy Ishizuka wrote in a lengthy […]

Colleen Oefelein was fired on January 25 from her position as an agent at Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency after the agency discovered she had accounts on right wing-associated social media sites Parler and Gab. Jennifer De Chiara’s account is now private, but she had written in a public thread, “As of this morning, Colleen Oefelein is no longer an agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.” The thread continued, “The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency was distressed to discover this morning, January 25th, that one of our agents has been using the social media platforms Gab and Parler. […]

On Monday, December 21 NetGalley “experienced a data security incident” that included the hacking of a backup database file. (A profane image was also posted on their home page, initially leading the company to believe the attack was “a simple defacement of our homepage.”) User data — including passwords and associated personal data — “became easily attainable by a hacker” due to “a temporary lapse in security protocol for one of our testing servers.” All NetGalley users will need to reset their passwords to access the site. More importantly, if you used your NetGalley password for any other site, that […]