Tyrant Books announced it will resume operations, after author and screenwriter Luke Goebel acquired 50 percent of the company. Matthew Johnson, owner of Fat Possum Reccords, retains the other 50 percent. Tyrant Books went dormant in 2021 after founder Giancarlo DiTrapano‘s death. Goebel worked as an unpaid assistant at the publisher in its early years, while Johnson helped find titles like Nico Walker’s Cherry. “I loved Giancarlo and want to continue his vision — when I first came to New York, poor and sleeping in my car on Seventh Avenue, I was invited to live on his old leather couch […]
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Ingram to Launch Catalog and Review Copy Website
Aligned with the opening of this year’s Winter Institute in Pittsburgh, Ingram Content Group announced Covered, a website where publishers can share catalogs and digital review copies with booksellers, librarians, and influencers. The site will launch in beta with select US publisher content in fall 2026 and will be available for the “entire industry” worldwide next year. The site appears to be a direct competitor to Edelweiss, which has been criticized for price hikes since their ownership change in 2024. According to Ingram’s website, Covered will include “publisher catalog creation, DRCs, reviews, and tags — along with buying tools such […]
Artist Pulls Book From Phaidon Over Owner’s Assault Allegations
British artist Tai Shani announced on social media that she withdrew her monograph from Phaidon due to allegations against the company’s owner that were revealed in the Epstein files. “Behind these allegations…are human beings, victims: young women, children, often from precarious backgrounds, real lives exploited and destroyed,” Shani’s statement reads. She thinks of withdrawal, she said, as “a refusal to contribute to any cover for the violence and the misogyny that underpin so many spheres of culture.” Multiple women have accused billionaire Leon Black, who founded Apollo Global Management and purchased Phaidon in 2012, of sexual assault, Hyperallergic reports. The […]
Harlequin Historical To Shutter
Harlequin will close its Harlequin Historical romance line in 2027, Reactor reports. The company will not acquire new titles for the line, and in September 2027 will “[cease] U.S. and U.K. retail efforts as well as digital publishing.” An author suggested that the company will continue to publish any titles under contract, and that it “plans to continue exploiting foreign language rights in markets where historical titles remain strong.” Harlequin provided the following statement: “As Harlequin continues to evolve its series romance publishing program, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue publishing the Historical Romance series after September 2027 due to […]
Liate Stehlik Becomes CEO and Publisher of HarperCollins Trade
HarperCollins announced that Liate Stehlik will be the new ceo and publisher of US trade. Stehlik will lead adult and children’s trade divisions, as well as sales in the US, reporting to Brian Murray, president and ceo, HarperCollins Publishers. Stehlik will also continue to oversee Morrow Group and its children’s division. Jonathan Burnham, president and publisher, Harper Group; Judith Curr, president and publisher, HarperOne Group; and Doug Lockhart, interim president of sales, will report to Stehlik. “During her 20 years with the company, Liate has helped shape our US publishing. She has guided the publication of hundreds of bestselling authors, […]
The Tuesday Agency Shutters; Owners Launch Smaller Agency Called Goliath Jones
The Tuesday Agency, an Iowa City-based speakers agency for authors, has closed. President Trinity Ray tells PL that the agency accepted government loans during the pandemic, which helped to keep the business going and to pay staff, but changes to rules around repayment, as well as other financial factors, made it impossible for the company to continue. He says, “We were keeping up until this second Trump administration. Changes to rules around government loan repayments, the decimation of the National Endowment for the Arts and attacks on universities have made it impossible for us to continue on in the same […]