Publisher News

ABA’s David Grogan named Media Coalition board chair; Rowman & Littlefield acquires selected Hal Leonard titles, imprints; Sourcebooks partners with Poisoned Pen Press on mystery imprint; Abrams to distribute Lucky Spool; APG to distribute Chalice Press; Tin House Magazine to close; Personnel changes at Catapult, PRH, HarperCollins, Tom Doherty Associates, Scholastic

Reed Exhibitions to sponsor 2019 Children’s Book Week; Jason Reynolds appears on Mitch Kaplan’s podcast; Crown restructuring details released; Chronicle announces LEGO partnership; Casemate to distribute Eurospan; Elsevier sells distribution center to LSC Communications; PEN/Faulkner executive director named; Chris Ryall to rejoin IDW; Nation Books renamed; Personnel changes at Berkley, Celadon; PEN America longlist, NBCC John Leonard Prize finalists announced; Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Book Prize, Thurber Prize, Jack D. Rittenhouse Lifetime Achievement Award winners announced

The 2019 Winter Institute is made possible by the generous support of Ingram Content Group, the event’s lead sponsor, and additional support from 120 publishers large and small.

Germany to investigate Amazon; Richmond newspaper features local indies’ reaction to Amazon HQ; Atwood to write Handmaid’s Tale sequel; Deadline set for Parneros to seek B&N countersuit dismissal; Polis Books to launch Agora; Personnel changes at Simon & Schuster, PRH, Arcadia, Grand Central, DK; Mystery Writers of America rescinds award following controversy; 2018 35 over 35 list, PBS Now Read This choice announced

Book trade publications have reported that Ingram Content Group has made “a tentative offer” to buy the retail wholesaling operations of Baker & Taylor. 

Protestors storm Amazon Books on Cyber Monday; Demos Parneros to file motion to dismiss B&N’s countersuit; Lerner Publishing Group acquires Zest; Former Quarto CEO joins Trigger; Personnel changes at Harper Christian, Workman Publishing, HarperCollins Children’s; MWA names 2019 Grand Masters

NYT publishes 100 Notable Books of 2018; B&N to open 10-15 stores in 2019; Becoming achieves PRH’s largest single-day sales total for 2018; Prize suspended after opposition to Amazon sponsorship; IPG to distribute three Spanish publishers; B&T to distribute Canada’s Sutherland House in U.S.; Portfolio and Simon Sinek to launch Optimism Press; Personnel changes at S&S, Harlequin; Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist announced; Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Scotiabank Giller Prize, Cundill History Prize winners announced 

Consortium adds eight new clients; De Gruyter to distribute UC Press titles; Hachette reshuffling results in layoffs; Small Press United to distribute Black Spot; Personnel changes at Ecco, Quarto, Imagine That, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Arcadia; Business Book of the Year Award winner, PNBA Book Award shortlist announced

Several publishers are once again offering expedited shipping to indie bookstores this holiday season and, in some cases, beyond. 

The offer applies to all books published before September 1, 2018, including the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series backlist.

With this program, which runs through December 19, all independent retailers in the United States will have the benefit of ship times of two days or less.

Booksellers boycott Amazon’s AbeBooks; W.H. Smith was B&N’s rumored buyer; Abrams to distribute Cernunnos; Hopkins to distribute Northeastern University Press; Promotions at Penguin Press, Barefoot Books, Tom Doherty Associates, Open Road: USPS proposes rate increases; LSC Communications to acquire Quad/Graphics; Nominations open for CILIP Book Awards; SIBA Book Prize, Cundill History Prize finalists announced; World Fantasy Award, National Translation Award, PEN America Literary Award winners announced

“We love the special terms and it’s good for our bottom line when we get behind a book,” said Bill Reilly, co-owner of the river’s end bookstore.