BTW News Briefs

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

BookExpo has announced the author lineup for the Friday, May 29, Children’s Book & Author Breakfast, sponsored by Candlewick, including Judy Blume, Natalie Portman, Misty Copeland, Raj Haldar, Marie Lu, and Kwame Mbalia.

The Romance Writers of America will hold a special election to fill all seats on its board after every member resigned.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has unveiled a revised version of proposed regulations implementing the California Consumer Privacy Act, which took effect in January; learn more about how CCPA affects businesses here.

The Panorama Project has announced two new initiatives for 2020 in its newly released annual report, the Immersive Media & Reading 2020 — Consumer Survey and the Library Marketing Valuation Toolkit. 

Libro.fm has named James Patterson its newest Bookstore Champion, an award recognizing individuals who actively advocate for local bookstores through their platforms, influence, and contributions to the greater indie book community.

Harlequin’s Love Inspired imprint is launching a trade paperback fiction publishing program in 2021.

Sarah Crichton has been named editor-in-chief and vice president at Henry Holt.

On Simon & Schuster’s indie sales team, Megan Manning has been promoted to telesales account manager covering the Pacific Northwest, and Ruby Smith is joining the team as sales assistant. 

The Los Angeles Times has announced the finalists and honorees of its 40th annual Book Prizes.

The winners have been named for the inaugural Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction.  

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance has announced the 2020 Southern Book Prize winners.

The Association of American Publishers has named the finalists for the 2020 Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) Awards.

The shortlist has been announced for the Aspen Words Literary Prize.

Ten titles published in 2019 have been longlisted for the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Nominees for the 2020 Women’s National Book Association’s Pannell Award have been announced.

The Reading the West Book Award nominees have been announced.

Share your news in BTW News Briefs! Publishers and industry partners are welcome to e-mail [email protected] with news about awards, imprint launches, distribution changes, staff promotions, and more.