Ken Brooks is leaving his position as chief content officer at Wiley and will resume his consulting practice at Treadwell Media focused on content and operations in trade, reference and education publishing. Jessica Sindler has joined the ghostwriting and publishing services firm Kevin Anderson & Associates as executive editor. Previously she was senior editor at Dey Street books. US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo has been appointed to a third term, only the second person in 77 years to do so. The International Publishers Association (IPA) confirmed Bodour Al Qasimi, founder of the Kalimat Group in the UAE, as president-elect. Owner […]
People, Etc.
Ibrahim Ahmad will join Viking as executive editor starting January 11, reporting to Andrea Schulz. He was previously editorial director at Akashic Books, where he worked for two decades. Selena James has joined Amazon Publishing as senior editor for Little A and Amazon Original Stories. She was previously at Kensington. Stephanie Purcell will join Bloomsbury UK as group rights director, reporting to Kathleen Farrar. She has been rights director at Simon & Schuster UK. Clark Christian has been hired as marketing director for the Thomas Nelson Bible group. Most recently he worked in product marketing for healthcare education company, PESI. Layoffs […]
More Best of 2020: NYT, Time, Oprah Magazine
The New York Times released its 100 notable books list, with its top 10 still to come. Elsewhere, Oprah Magazine published their 20 best titles. Titles by Kawai Strong Washburn, Raven Leilani, and Danielle Evans are excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2020 samplers. The complete list: African American Poetry, edited by Kevin Young A Beautiful Crime, by Christopher Bollen The Boy in the Field, by Margot Livesey Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter Deacon King Kong, by James McBride A Girl is A Body of Water, by Jennifer Mansubuga Makumbi Homeland Elegies, […]
Stuart’s Shuggie Bain Wins Booker Prize
Douglas Stuart’s novel Shuggie Bain (Grove/Picador) was awarded the £50,000 Booker Prize, in a virtual ceremony on Thursday afternoon. Chair of judges Margaret Busby said in part: ‘Shuggie Bain is destined to be a classic — a moving, immersive and nuanced portrait of a tight-knit social world, its people and its values…. The poetry in Douglas Stuart’s descriptions and the precision of his observations stand out: nothing is wasted.” Stuart said in his acceptance speech, “I know I’m only the second Scottish book in fifty years to have won, and that means I think a lot for regional voices, for working […]
Best of 2020: Washington Post, Amazon, and Indigo
The Washington Post released its year end books package on Thursday, including its top 10 Best Books of the 2020 list: Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson Hidden Valley Road, by Robert Kolker Memorial Drive, by Natasha Trethewey Unworthy Republic, by Claudio Saunt Vesper Flights, by Helen Macdonald The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi Writers & Lovers, by Lily King The paper also published its traditional lists of 50 notable fiction and nonfiction books. Amazon also released their best books of 2020 package on Thursday, with Brittany K. […]
NAIBA Board Pauses to Acknowledge Covid Exhaustion, Shares Tools for Indies
Despite many positive indicators that publishing has rebounded amidst the pandemic, there is a parallel reality: Many in the bookselling community have continued to struggle, and the challenges have grown as the country faces the potential of more retail limitations or shutdowns during the critical holiday season. The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association sent an emotional email yesterday to members yesterday to acknowledge the struggle. The board voiced the need to “Take a moment to mourn the stores lost this year to Covid-19, from legacy stores to stores that opened with hope in the last few years; to acknowledge the […]