Join us today at noon for the very first Substack Live episode of the Buzz Books Official Monday Interview, as we interview Publishers Marketplace’s own Erin Somers on the eve of the publication of her brilliant The Ten Year Affair.
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WH Smith Stock Plunges Following Disclosure of Accounting Error
Shares in travel retailer WH Smith plunged over 42 percent in Thursday trading after the company disclosed an accounting error found while preparing results for their fiscal year ending August 31. They said there was “an overstatement of around £30 million” of expected profit from their North American division, “largely due to the accelerated recognition of supplier income.” Company full-year pre-tax profit is now expected to be “in the region of £110 million” as a result. The North American division was previously expected to have profit of £55 million on its own, now likely to be £25 million instead. They […]
Forthcoming: ‘Vigil’ By George Saunders
Random House will publish VIGIL, a new novel by George Saunders, on January 27, 2026. Saunders won the Booker Prize for his first novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which was published in 2017. The publisher writes, “This new novel takes place at the bedside of an oil company CEO, in the twilight hours of his life, as he is ferried from this world into the next by Jill ‘Doll’ Blaine, tasked with guiding souls into the afterlife.” Saunders tells Vulture that the novel is a companion to Lincoln in the Bardo, adding “And there’s a third on the way (I […]
Distribution: UDON Entertainment
Art book and graphic novel publisher UDON Entertainment will be distributed worldwide by Simon & Schuster, for frontlist and backlist titles, starting April 1. UDON was previously distributed by Diamond Book Distributors. Specialty comic book stores can also order UDON titles from Lunar Distribution, Universal Distribution, and Diamond Comics Distribution.
Oops
On Friday we launched a new column titled Galley Brag, unaware that a Substack of the same name existed already, run by Harper editor Ezra Kupor. The Substack, a series of longform interviews with publishing figures, is well worth checking out. Going forward, our column of staff picks and other news about buzzy forthcoming titles will appear under the name The Edit.
IPG to Offer Client Digital Product to Libraries for Perpetual Access
Independent Publishers Group (IPG) has paired with the Digital Public Library of America to offer “tens of thousands of ebook and audiobook titles” from a number of their publisher clients for outright purchase and perpetual access, rather than time- or usage-limited access. IPG recently sold their digital distribution business to Bookwire. Clearly welcomed by libraries, unfortunately the announcement engages in inflammatory and disingenuous rhetoric. They claim that, “Since the advent and spread of digital content, libraries have only been able to license ebooks and audiobooks from publishers and aggregators with no option to buy, trapping libraries in licensing agreements where […]