BTW News Briefs

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

The voting period for the 11th annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards, part of Children’s Book Week (April 30 to May 6), has been extended to May 11. The winners of the awards, the only national children’s book awards chosen solely by young readers, will be announced live on May 30 in New York City at BookExpo.

Former Penguin CEO Michael Lynton’s Lezen Acquisition LLC has teamed with former Perseus Books Group CEO David Steinberger to purchase Arcadia Publishing, the Charleston, South Carolina-based local history and regional content publisher. This will be the first in a series of acquisitions, the investors said.

Quirk Books has hired Jhanteigh Kupihea as its new editorial director. Kupihea, who begins at Quirk on May 21, was most recently senior editor at Atria Books, where she worked on commercial fiction and nonfiction and oversaw the launch of Skybound Books with Skybound Entertainment in 2017.

Viking and Penguin Books have announced a number of promotions: Rebecca Marsh will be promoted to assistant director of publicity; Chris Smith to senior publicist; and Brianna Linden to publicist.

Elliott Advisors has bought a majority stake in Waterstones, a bookstore chain with over 200 locations in the U.K. CEO James Daunt will remain head of the company, which he has led since 2011. The terms of the deal, which is expected to close in May, were not disclosed.

The Publishing Triangle’s 30th annual Triangle Awards, honoring the best LGBTQ fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and trans literature published in 2017, were presented at the New School in New York City on April 26.

After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Roaring Brook Press) was named the winner of the Second Annual Anna Dewdney Read Together Award, sponsored by Penguin Young Readers, the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader.

The winners of the 2018 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2017, were presented at the Mystery Writers of America’s 72nd Gala Banquet in New York City on April 26.

The winners of the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Awards were announced on April 27. Michael W. Twitty won for The Cooking Gene (Amistad) in two categories: Book of the Year and Writing. The foundation’s chef and restaurant winners will be announced at the James Beard Awards Gala on May 7.

The Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association has announced the shortlist for the MPIBA Reading the West Book Awards, featuring books published for the first time in calendar year 2017.


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