BTW New Briefs

Here’s what’s happening this week in the book industry:

BookExpo has announced its lineup for the 2019 Adult Book & Author Breakfast: Rachel Maddow of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Outliers, David & Goliath), Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me), Karin Slaughter (The Last Widow), and Marjorie Liu (Monstress).

Pearson announced the sale of the company’s K-12 courseware division to private equity group Nexus Capital Management for $250 million.

This fall, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade division will begin releasing its own audiobooks through a new digital audiobook imprint, HMH Audio. 

Baker & Taylor has signed agreements to distribute Parvus Press in the U.S. and Canada and Management Impact Publishing in the U.S., Canada, and internationally. Starting July 1, Baker & Taylor will also distribute Sweet Cherry Publishing in the U.S. and Canada excluding mass merchandise; Flowerpot Children’s Press in the U.S. only; Allison & Busby in the U.S. and Canada; and Beetle Books in the U.S. and Canada. B&T will also begin distributing Nimbus Publishing in the U.S. only starting August 1.

Philip Himberg will become the new executive director of The MacDowell Colony, one of the country’s leading arts organizations; he will succeed Cheryl Young, who is retiring after 30 years with the organization. Previously, Himberg served as the artistic director for Sundance Institute’s theatre program.

On March 4, Mauro DiPreta will join the William Morrow group as senior vice president and executive editor. He previously worked at HarperCollins for 16 years, and most recently served as founder, vice president, and publisher of Hachette Books.

At Johns Hopkins University Press, Davida Breier is being promoted to director of Hopkins Fulfillment Services and Hopkins Sales Partners, Terrence Melvin is being promoted to customer service and operations manager of Hopkins Fulfillment Services, and Heidi Vincent has been hired as business development and sales manager for Hopkins Sales Partners.

At Chronicle Books, Michaela Whatnall has been promoted to school and library marketing coordinator on the children’s marketing team, and Stephanie Cargill-Greer has been promoted to export sales coordinator.

The James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council has announced two new Tiptree Fellows: Vida Cruz and Ana Hurtado. According to the council, the program “seeks out new voices in the field, particularly from communities that have been historically underrepresented in science fiction and fantasy and by those who work in media other than traditional fiction.”

The Los Angeles Times has announced the finalists and honorees of the 39th annual Book Prizes. This year, Terry Tempest Williams will receive the Robert Kirsch Award, Library of America will receive with the Innovator’s Award, and Kiese Laymon will receive the Christopher Isherwood Prize. The awards ceremony will take place on April 12 at the University of Southern California (USC), serving as a prelude to the April 13–14 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC.

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) has announced the winners of the 2019 Southern Book Prize. Nominated by indie booksellers in the region, the prize honors the best in southern literature. New this year, winners were chosen via vote by both booksellers and their customers; voting began November 10 as part of the Love Your Bookstore Challenge week.

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