Employees of Hachette Book Group wrote a letter to management protesting the publisher’s new conservative imprint Basic Liberty and the hiring of former Heritage Foundation fellow Thomas Spence. (The letter was posted on the Instagram account xoxopublishinggg.) The employees write: “As employees of HBG, we stand together in firm disapprobation of The Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and any conservative movement of thought that strips away sacred rights and the humanity of people. We disavow David Shelley’s unsympathetic and insensitive remarks, and maintain that the dignity, rights, and freedoms of all people should be upheld by everyone, especially those in positions […]
People 11/8
People 11/7
Mike Shatzkin, RIP
The beautiful, brilliant, boisterous, kind, generous, optimistic, unconventional and wholly original Mike Shatkzin, 77, died on the morning of November 7 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, following the recent onset of a rare cancer. In his final days, Mike was lifted by an outpouring of love and appreciation, as his ICU room overflowed with visitors from near and far and his email and texts flooded with messages. Even as his body struggled, Mike’s resting face in his hospital bed was often a smile. Mike was indelible. If you were fortunate enough to spend time with him, his voice […]
Basic Books Launches Two New Imprints
At the Basic Books Group, publisher Lara Heimert has been promoted from svp to president and is launching two new imprints, Basic Venture, a business and economics imprint, and Basic Liberty, which will publish conservative books. Both will publish their first lists in summer 2025. Basic Venture will be led by editorial director Colleen Lawrie and executive editor Emily Taber , who move over from Public Affairs, building on that line’s “two decades…of business publishing.” (A new editorial director will be hired for Public Affairs.) In addition to publishing “leading experts” they will focus on “helping individuals and organizations who […]
December 2024 Indie Next List
The ABA named Robin Wall Kimmerer's The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World as their No. 1 pick on the December Indie Next List.