BTW News Briefs

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

To address immediate needs following Hurricane Florence, Ingram is helping affected booksellers and libraries through donations to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) and the American Library Association’s (ALA) relief efforts. In addition, Ingram’s retail division is postponing invoices for clients.

Independent We Stand’s eighth annual Indie Award competition kicked off Monday, September 24. The contest allows individuals to nominate their favorite small business online and vote each day throughout the nomination and voting period. This year’s winner will receive a $25,000 prize package that includes a comprehensive marketing makeover and a $1,000 STIHL equipment certificate.

Distributor IPG has set up a new digital print facility that will exclusively serve the company’s distributed publishers. The new printing site replaces the one that closed in July after IPG printer Edwards Brothers Malloy went out of business.

On Monday, September 24, Chris Finan, former executive director of the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) and current executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal titled “A Shameful Season for American Journalism,” in which he cited The Nation, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books as publications that have recently submitted to public pressure to either apologize or fire staff in the wake of controversy.

Penguin Young Readers has announced the upcoming launch of its newest imprint, World of Eric Carle, to be devoted to the works of the iconic children’s author-illustrator. The launch in fall 2019 coincides with the 50th anniversary of the publication of Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and will feature the release of three new titles.

Acorn, a new imprint from Scholastic for children ages four to seven, will launch in May with four titles to be simultaneously released in hardcover and paperback. The imprint is an offshoot of the company’s Branches imprint for slightly older readers.

Jack Macrae is retiring from Holt after more than 35 years at the company. Prior to joining Holt, he spent 15 years working at Dutton, which was owned by his grandfather, where he helped publish authors such as Jorge Luis Borges. At Holt, his authors included two-time Booker Award-winner Hilary Mantel.

At Melville House, Tim McCall has joined as the company’s vice president of sales and business development, while Stephanie Valente has joined as digital marketing manager. Valente will manage the publisher’s website and social media pages and edit Melville House’s MobyLives blog. Also, Michael Seidlinger has joined Melville House as the company’s library and academic marketing manager.  

At Ecco, Sonya Cheuse has been promoted to senior publicity director.

Ingram has announced that Steve Marshall will join the company’s information technology team as vice president of IT services, where he will work to deliver on key priorities in Ingram’s services organization.

Penguin’s Viking Children’s Books imprint has announced that Tamar Brazis will join the team as editorial director of picture books, reporting to Ken Wright. In her new role, she will grow the imprint’s picture book catalog while also developing her own list. Previously, Brazis was the editorial director of Abrams Books for Young Readers, where she worked for nearly 15 years.

Eamon Dolan will join Simon & Schuster as vice president and executive editor effective October 1. Dolan worked at a number of different publishers since the 1980s, including Houghton Mifflin, Penguin Press, and, most recently, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt once again. At HMH, he had an eponymous imprint, Eamon Dolan Books, which shut down in July.

Nonprofit small press distributor SPD is partnering with the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) to form the Indie Bookseller Council, a group of 14 independent booksellers focused on boosting the support and sales of small press literary works. The group will communicate through a listserv and meet virtually as well as in-person at the upcoming Winter Institute.

The six-book shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize has been announced and features two debut novels, including one by the youngest author ever to make the list, and four books written by women. The Man Booker Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English and published in the U.K. and Ireland.

Kirkus Reviews has announced the finalists for its Kirkus Prize, naming six in each of the prize’s categories — nonfiction, fiction, and young readers’ literature. Winners will be announced on October 25, and each will receive $50,000; writers become eligible by receiving a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

The National Book Foundation will award Isabel Allende with its 2018 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the National Book Awards on November 14. Allende will be the first Spanish-language author to be recognized with the DCAL medal, and the second, since Saul Bellow, to be born outside the United States.

The National Book Foundation has announced the 2018 “5 under 35” list, its annual selection of debut fiction writers under the age of 35 “whose work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.” This year’s list includes Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Akwaeke Emezi, Lydia Kiesling, and Moriel Rothman-Zecher.

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