Uncategorized

Barack Obama closed the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition on Tuesday afternoon in conversation with Smithsonian secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. Obama discussed his memoir, A Promised Land, as well as the importance of museums and libraries, and issues including Black Lives Matter and the January 6 insurrection. “One of the things I worry about both in our country and around the world,” he said, “and I write about this in A Promised Land, is the rise of certainty that there is this unbridgeable distinction between us and them.” Restoring the US, he said, will take not just a reaffirmation […]

Lee & Low Books has acquired the assets of Cinco Puntos Press, comprising approximately 130 titles, and will become the publisher and primary distributor of their titles, which were previously distributed by Consortium. The acquisition adds the first adult titles to Lee & Low’s list. Cinco Puntos titles will remain under their own imprint, with the possibility of acquiring new titles under the imprint. Lee & Low will also reissue some out of print Cinco Puntos books. In a]the release, Lee & Low publisher Jason Low said, “We have always held the books that Cinco Puntos Press published in high […]

I ALONE CAN FIX IT: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists and authors of A Very Stable Genius Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker will be published by Penguin Press on July 20. The book promises “deep and unparalleled sources, many on the record for the first time—including a wide-ranging and revealing interview with President Trump himself.”

BINC‘s Survive to Thrive initiative announced awards totaling $1.1 million to 115 independent bookstores and comic shops facing financial challenges due to COVID-19. Grants include $10,000 for 99 stores and $7,500 for 16 stores. Longtime consultant (and our partner in Publishers Launch Conferences) Mike Shatzkin has joined with Dan Gerstein at Gotham Ghostwriters to found Gotham Publishing Solutions, providing “enterprise self-publishing” to companies and professionals. Gerstein is ceo, with Julie Blattberg as general manager and Laura Ferguson handling business development.

The European Union has finally agreed to recommend that member states lift travel restrictions on visitors from the US, though individual countries will still be able to set their own requirements. But at least the possibility of visiting Europe for a trade show has become easier, if that’s on your agenda. For the record, the Frankfurt Book Fair has asked us to point to their statement (our italics added) that, “Visitors must provide a report of their current health status on the day of entry (more details will be provided when you purchase a ticket). Depending on the regulations in […]

Dow Jones announced on Friday that it is revising its policy on books written by Wall Street Journal employees, possibly expanding the newspaper’s control over those projects. Under current restrictions, journalists are required to inform senior editors about book projects at early stages. But the director of the WSJ union told The Hill that the changes would require personnel to seek permission even earlier, before “sending a proposal or engaging in talks with a book agent or publisher or production company.” Additionally, journalists “will be required to execute an appropriate licensing agreement” to use their own reporting in their books, […]