Acquisition Talks with Quarto Group End

The Quarto Group announced Wednesday morning that its discussions with a potential buyer [8] have been called off, the U.K.’s The Investment Observer [9] reported.

The announcement occurred a week after Quarto revealed it had received an unsolicited takeover offer; however, according to The Investment Observer, as talks progressed it became clear that the deal was unlikely to receive regulatory approval in time. The company’s shares fell after the company’s announcement.

In an August 16 statement, the company’s board noted: “Recognizing the importance of delivering a strong finish to the year and after carefully considering the interests of all shareholders, the board was not prepared to prolong discussions further to avoid distraction to management at such a critical time of year for the business.”

Gallery Books Group President Louise Burke to Retire from Simon & Schuster

Gallery Books Group president Louise Burke will retire from Simon & Schuster on Friday, August 18, after a 40-year career in publishing, Publishers Lunch [10] reported.

Burke [11] joined S&S in 2001 as publisher of Pocket Books. Starting in 2009, she led the newly formed Gallery Books Group, which combined Pocket and what was then Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Gallery Books now includes Karen Hunter Publishing, Jeter Publishing, North Star Way, Scout Press, and Threshold Editions.

As part of this change, Gallery Books publisher Jennifer Bergstrom was promoted to senior vice president and publisher of the Gallery Books Group, reporting to S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy. Bergstrom joined S&S in 1998 as editorial director for the launch of Simon Spotlight, and was editor-in-chief of the Gallery imprint when it was formed in 2009.

Ryan Doherty Named Executive Editor of Macmillan’s Celadon Books

Former Sony executive Ryan Doherty has been named executive editor of Macmillan’s new trade book division, Celadon Books, Deadline [12] reported.

Doherty was most recently the vice president of literary development at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he worked on a number of high-profile book-to-film/TV projects. He will join Celadon Books on September 12.

During his tenure at Sony, Doherty worked on projects including Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson, and Red Platoon by Clinton Romesha. Prior to Sony, Doherty was a senior editor at Ballantine Books.

PEN Center USA 2017 Literary Award Finalists Announced

PEN Center USA, the West Coast center of PEN International, has announced its 2017 Literary Awards finalists [13] in categories including fiction, creative nonfiction, research nonfiction, poetry, young adult, translation, journalism, and drama.

The Awards will be presented on October 27 at the 27th Annual Literary Awards Festival [14] at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where Margaret Atwood will receive the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Among this year’s nominees are authors Karan Mahajan, Lydia Millet, Paul Kalanithi, Timothy Egan, Calla Devlin, and Boni Alvarez. Winners will be announced in early September.

2017 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award Winners Announced

Independent booksellers across the Midwest have voted for the five winners of the 2017 Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards. [15]

Eligible books must be published between May of the previous year and April of the current year, and have a connection to the region in the content of the book or the author’s hometown or residence.

This year’s winners are:

• Fiction: Wintering by Peter Geye (Knopf/Penguin Random House)
• Nonfiction: The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan (W.W. Norton)
• Poetry: How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century by Louis V. Clark III (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
• Young Adult and Middle Grade: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin Young Readers)
• Children’s Picture Book: One North Star by Phyllis Root, illus. by Beckie Prange and Betsy Bowen (University of Minnesota Press)

The winning authors will be honored at the Heartland Fall Forum awards dinner on October 11 in Lombard, Illinois.

Katie Eelman of Papercuts J.P. wins NEIBA Rusty Drugan Scholarship

Katie Eelman, the media and events coordinator at Papercuts J.P. [16] in Boston, has won the New England Independent Booksellers Association’s Rusty Drugan Scholarship for Emerging Leaders [17].

The prize is awarded annually in memory of Wayne “Rusty” Drugan, the executive director of NEIBA from 1992 to 2006.

Eelman runs the store’s events program and manages its social media, marketing, and publicity; she also produces the store’s podcast and is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the store’s publishing arm, Cutlass Press.

Prior to joining Papercuts J.P., which opened in 2014, Eelman worked in the Boston office of Hachette Book Group.

Alex Brubaker Wins NAIBA’s Joe Drabyak Handseller of the Year Award

Alex Brubaker of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore [18] in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has won the 2017 Joe Drabyak Handseller of the Year award [19], created in honor of late New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association President Joe Drabyak to recognize booksellers who put their passion for books into practice with marketing and promotions.

The owners of Midtown Scholar, Catherine Lawrence and Eric Papenfuse, recommended Brubaker, who started his career in bookselling just nine months ago. Lawrence told NAIBA that Brubaker has redefined the 14-year-old used, rare, and out-of-print books store as one with a diverse and compelling collection of new releases handpicked by Brubaker. According to Lawrence, new book sales have topped all other income since Brubaker joined the store.

Brubaker began at Midtown Scholar as a junior staffer and events coordinator, and is now the store manager. Prior to that, he was the editorial assistant at Rain Taxi Review of Books and the exhibit coordinator for the Twin Cities Book Festival in Minneapolis.

Brubaker will be recognized at the awards banquet at the NAIBA Fall Conference on October 7 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

2017 Hugo Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 2017 Hugo Awards [20] were announced at WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland, on Friday, August 11, where prizes were awarded in 18 categories.

This year, N.K. Jemisin won best novel for the second year in a row, this time for The Obelisk Gate (Orbit Books). Seanan McGuire won best novella for Every Heart a Doorway (Tor.com Publishing), while best short story went to “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El-Mohtar, published in The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales (Saga Press). Best dramatic presentation, long-form, was awarded to the 2016 film Arrival (screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve).

Visit the Hugo Awards website to see the full list of winners [20].