Hachette Book Group released its annual diversity update for 2020. The company increased staff diversity at every level, “with the largest gain in the senior managers category (director & above), which rose 31 percent” — though that echelon remains 79.5 percent white. Only 3.1 percent of that management category is Black, and 3.9 percent of the total workforce. The number of BIPOC-identifying employees increased by seven percent in the year, and other efforts including raising starting salaries to $45,000, “an important step in making our hiring practices more inclusive”; and hiring vp diversity and inclusion, Carrie Bloxson, who joined the […]
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Federal Writers Project Bill Would Create $60 Million In Writing Jobs
Democratic members of Congress Ted Lieu of California and Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico introduced new legislation on Thursday that would create a $60 million Federal Writers Project bill. To be administered by the Department of Labor, the bill would provide money to nonprofits, libraries, news outlets and communications unions in an effort to create jobs and support to writers suffering from income losses because of the pandemic. The legislation is inspired by the 1935 Federal Writers’ Project of the New Deal Era, which, at its peak, provided employment to 6,000 writers. In addition to making jobs, the representatives […]
Today at Noon: Agent and Attorney Salky in the Discuss Forum
Join agent and attorney Jesseca Salky online at PM today at noon Eastern, the latest guest on our forum Discuss, to ask questions about legal issues that face authors and agents. The discussion will happen at this link. A reminder that these are straightforward typed message board conversations. No cameras, no sound, no zooming, no separate apps required. Use the “reply” button to type your questions or comments, and Jesseca will post back.
This Week’s Discuss Guest: Agent and Attorney Jesseca Salky
Join agent and attorney Jesseca Salky to ask questions about legal issues that face authors and agents at noon on Wednesday, May 5 as our next weekly AMA guest on the PM forum Discuss. Feel free to post your questions for Jesseca in advance; the discussion will happen at this link. This is a straight forward, typed message board conversation. Discuss has no cameras, no sound, no zooming, no separate apps required. Use the “reply” button to type your questions or comments, and Jesseca will post back. While all of these conversations are scheduled and conducted live on our site, everything […]
Authors Form Task Force To Recover Royalties From Disney
A group of authors and author organizations have formed the DisneyMustPay Joint Task Force to seek missing royalties from Disney for novelizations and comics they were hired to write based on Disney properties. The Guardian reports that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, National Writers Union, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime are all involved with the group. Individual members include Neil Gaiman, Chuck Wendig, Mary Robinette Kowal, and more. The group formed following Alan Dean Foster’s November 2020 attempts to recover royalties for his Star Wars and Alien novelizations. The company bought […]
It’s Back: The Next Buzz Books Editors Panel
We are open for registration for our next, much anticipated virtual Buzz Books Editors Panel, convening on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 PM Eastern. Once again, we are honored to have the American Booksellers Association join us as co-presenter, with co-owner of Books Are Magic bookstore and bestselling novelist Emma Straub as the host. (Her latest novel, All Adults Here, was just released in trade paperback on April 13.) You can register here — and the first 50 booksellers who enroll will get a package of galleys for the featured titles. In May, a week ahead of the panel, we’ll […]