BTW News Briefs

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

San Francisco Writers’ Foundation Chooses BINC as 2018 Auction Co-beneficiary

The San Francisco Writers’ Foundation (SFWC) has chosen the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) as a co-beneficiary for its 2018 benefit auction series.

The San Francisco Writers’ Foundation is the division of the 501(c)3 nonprofit San Francisco Writers’ Conference that supports the written arts regionally and nationwide. Gordon Warnock, SFWC’s auction coordinator, said that Binc was “a natural fit for the program.”

“This opportunity to partner with SFWC is incredible,” said Binc Executive Director Pamela French. “In addition to helping Binc achieve financial stability, partnering with SFWC is a great way to continue to grow awareness. Authors are among our greatest advocates because they spend a lot of time around booksellers and can point booksellers to Binc.”

Book Industry Gathers at Sally Dedecker Memorial Event

Friends and colleagues of Sally Dedecker gathered on Thursday, February 1, at a memorial event in New York City held in remembrance of the longtime Book Industry Study Group (BISG) board member.

The event was organized by Sourcebooks founder and CEO Dominique Raccah and The Book Report Network co-founder and President Carol Fitzgerald, and hosted by Dedecker’s BookExpo colleagues Andrew Esposito and Brien McDonald. According to BISG, more than 30 industry influencers from such companies as the American Booksellers Association, BISG, Bowker, Overdrive, Publishers Marketplace, Publishers Weekly, and more joined Dedecker’s family for the occasion at The Black Barn restaurant.

In addition to her role as a board member of BISG, Dedecker had also served as BookExpo’s director of programming and as a strategic consultant to publishers. She also had roots in bookselling and in sales and marketing at NAL, Simon & Schuster, and Ingram.

American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher was one of many who spoke at the event. Said Teicher, “When anyone needed someone to get something done, Sally was that go-to person. She knew everyone, and always knew the right person to call at the right time. She was extraordinary, and we’ll miss her a lot.”

Oprah’s Book Club Chooses An American Marriage

On Tuesday’s CBS This Morning program, Oprah Winfrey announced An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (Algonquin Books) as her first selection of 2018 for Oprah’s Book Club, CBS News reported.

Since 1996, Winfrey’s endorsements through her book club have helped make dozens of books, from contemporary works to classics, into instant bestsellers. Published Tuesday, Jones’ novel tells the story of a newly married African-American couple and the husband’s shocking arrest and prison term that turns their lives upside-down.

Winfrey’s interview with Jones, whose previous books include Silver Sparrow (Algonquin) and Leaving Atlanta (Warner Books), will appear in the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, out next week. Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Films, is also planning an adaptation of the novel.

National Book Foundation Announces New Translated Literature Award

The National Book Foundation (NBF) has announced the creation of a fifth book award: the National Book Award for Translated Literature.

The prize, which honors a work of fiction or nonfiction that has been translated into English and published in the U.S., will be awarded for the first time at the 69th National Book Awards this November. It joins the awards’ other four categories (Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature) as a permanent prize. The new award will honor both the author and translator of the winning book and “aims to broaden readership for global voices and spark dialogue around international stories.”

The addition of a new category required a unanimous vote by the National Book Foundation’s Board of Directors. Submission guidelines for this new prize will be available on the National Book Foundation website on March 7.

Staff Changes Announced at St. Martin’s Press

St. Martin’s Press (SMP) announced a number of staff changes and promotions on Tuesday, February 6.

Jen Enderlin has been promoted to the role of sole publisher of the Macmillan division and will now oversee the day-to-day operations of the company, reporting to Macmillan president Don Weisberg. In addition, Sally Richardson has been named SMP chairman after 48 years at the company; Enderlin has shared publishing responsibilities at SMP with Richardson since 2016.  

Andrew Martin was named senior vice president and executive publishing director for St. Martin’s Press, reporting to Enderlin, while Anne Marie Tallberg was named vice president and publishing director of St. Martin’s Paperbacks and Griffin. Paul Hochman was promoted to vice president of marketing, and Laura Clark was named vice president in her role as SMP associate publisher of nonfiction.

Maja Thomas Appointed Hachette Livre’s Chief Innovation Officer

Arnaud Nourry, CEO of Hachette Livre, has appointed Maja Thomas as Hachette Livre’s chief innovation officer and to the company’s International Executive Board.

Thomas, who is based in California, was previously director of the Hachette Innovation Program, where she “work[ed] internationally across the company’s divisions to facilitate collaboration with start-ups and established global technological players, and accelerate[d] digital transformation.”

According to Nourry, in her new role, Thomas will “further support all of Hachette Livre teams as they test, innovate, and break new ground, in particular using big data and artificial intelligence.”

Meryl Halls to Become Managing Director of U.K.’s Booksellers Association

Meryl Halls has been promoted to managing director of the U.K.’s Booksellers Association (BA), as Tim Godfray steps back after 33 years from his role as the BA’s chief executive, The Bookseller reported.

On April 10, at the start of London Book Fair, Godfray will step away from day-to-day management of projects and take up a newly created position as executive chair of the BA Group, where he will oversee Batch and National Book Tokens as well as the BA. Halls, BA’s head of membership services, will become the BA’s managing director, another newly created position, on the same day.

Halls started at the BA as a conference assistant in 1988 before becoming conference manager for eight years. After that, she became the BA’s membership manager and was eventually promoted to head of the department.

PEN America to Confer Lifetime and Career Achievement Awards

PEN America will honor several individual authors with lifetime and career achievement awards at the 2018 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony this month.

Author Edmund White will receive the annual PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, while Irish writer Edna O’Brien will receive the 2018 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.

In addition, poet Kamau Braithwait will receive the PEN/Voelcker Award, translator Barbara Harshav will take home the PEN/Manheim Medal for Translation, and author Dave Kindred willl receive the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing. Playwrights Luis Alfaro, Sibyl Kempson, and Mike Lew will receive the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation for Theater Awards for Master American Dramatist, American Dramatist in Mid-Career, and Emerging American Playwright, respectively.

Winners will accept their prizes at the 2018 ceremony on February 20 at the NYU Skirball Center in New York.

2018 Audie Award Finalists Announced

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) has announced the 2018 finalists for the 23rd annual Audie Awards.

The awards recognize distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment in 26 categories. Winners will be revealed on May 31 at the Audies Gala at the New York Historical Society.

See all finalists here.