Penguin Random House will not attend Bologna Book Fair, due to COVID-19, announced Tuesday morning. They become the second major publisher to pull out of the event, after Simon & Schuster, which announced their withdrawal on Friday. A representative for PRH told PL, “In light of the travel risks related to the Coronavirus and our ongoing concerns for the health and well-being of our employees, authors, and partners, Penguin Random House will not participate in the Bologna Book Fair.” On Monday evening the Italian government imposed a country-wide quarantine, banning essentially all public gatherings and severely limiting travel in and […]
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Hachette Cancels Woody Allen Book After Employee Protest
On Friday afternoon Hachette Book Group announced that it “has decided that it will not publish Woody Allen’s memoir A Propos of Nothing…and will return all rights to the author.” The cancellation followed a protest from HBG employees on Thursday that drew international media attention. The company noted in their statement that, “We are committed to offering a stimulating, supportive and open work environment for all our staff. Over the past few days, HBG leadership had extensive conversations with our staff and others. After listening, we came to the conclusion that moving forward with publication would not be feasible for […]
Hachette Book Group Staff Stages Walkout Over Woody Allen’s Memoir
Hachette Book Group employees staged a walkout on Thursday afternoon, to protest Grand Central’s intended publication of Woody Allen’s memoir, Apropos of Nothing, on April 7. Initially billed online as #LittleBrownWalkout and then expanded to include #GrandCentralWalkout and #HachetteWalkout, the protest involved employees from across the company. Sources at HBG and on Twitter estimate 75 to 100 people in New York participated, and some employees at the Boston office walked out as well. Some people at Little, Brown turned on an email autoreply that read, “This afternoon, the staff of Little, Brown and Company have walked out of the Hachette […]
Macmillan Issues 30-Day Progress Report About Representation in Publishing
Macmillan issued a 30-day progress report to Latinx activist organization #DignidadLiteraria as promised in their February 4 meeting. At that meeting, #DignidadLiteraria, representatives from Present.org, and a panel of authors discussed their concerns about Latinx representation in publishing with Flatiron Books president Bob Miller, Macmillan president Don Weisberg, and representatives from other Macmillan imprints. On recruitment and retention, Macmillan wrote, “We recently expanded our HR team to include a new full-time staff person dedicated to recruiting efforts. She will be a resource in expanding our candidate pool to include underrepresented groups.” The publisher says they are continuing to review “our existing […]
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 […]
Ingram Content Group, Macmillan Trade US Will Skip London Book Fair
Another large exhibitor, Ingram Content Group, told PL the company will not attend London Book Fair after informing staff on Friday morning. Macmillan Trade US also withdrew on Friday afternoon. Spokesperson Erin Coffey confirmed the publisher “will not be participating in the London Book Fair, out of concern for the health and safety of our employees.” The announcements follow Simon & Schuster’s Friday morning decision to skip the event, and individual withdrawals by employees and teams at other houses that have made attendance optional.