BTW News Briefs

We Need Diverse Books Announces Winners of 2016 Internship Grants

We Need Diverse Books has announced the winners of its 2016 WNDB Internship Grants. The program, which has grown from five $2,500 grants last year to 11 grants of $2,500 each this year, provides support for interns from diverse backgrounds working in children’s publishing.

“We had so many excellent candidates for the grants, it was difficult to choose the winners,” said Linda Sue Park, honorary chair of the WNDB Internship Grants Committee. “We’re also very gratified by the enthusiasm of our publishing partners to hire diverse applicants.”

This year’s recipients are:

• Alexandra Hightower, New York University, to Writers House Literary Agency
• Rafiatou Ouro Aguy, Hamilton College, to Simon & Schuster
• Talia Chaves, Montclair State, to HarperCollins Publishing
• Maya Marlette, Wellesley College, to Scholastic
• Pia Ceres, Brown University, to Lee & Low Books
• Jessica Harold, American University, to Nancy Gallt Literary Agency
• Erin Siu, NYU, to Macmillan
• Sophie Erb, Pratt College, to Macmillan
• Jocquelle Caiby, Baruch College (CUNY), to Serendipity Literary Agency
• Rae Chang, Brigham Young University, to Donald Maass Literary Agency
• Manny Blasco, Rutgers University, to HarperCollins Publishing

BookCon Expands to New York Comic Con This Fall

This fall, ReedPop will add an extension of BookCon, the consumer-facing event that follows BookExpo America, to the festivities at New York Comic Con (NYCC). BookCon @ NYCC will take place October 6–9 at Hudson Mercantile, a separate event space located near the Javits Center. 

Admission to BookCon @ NYCC’s panels, autograph sessions, and meet-the-author events is included as part of consumer NYCC badges. 

BookCon 2017 will held on June 3–4, following the BEA trade show at the Javits Center.

Salvador, Brazil’s Only Indie Bookstore Raising Funds to Remain Open

The Boto, the only independent bookstore in the entire city of Salvador, Brazil, is currently running a two-week Indiegogo campaign to keep their doors open through Brazil’s worst economic recession since the 1930s.

Owners Sarah Rebecca Kersley and Milena Britto said that as two women in a culture of pervasive machismo, they have had to fight against many challenges to make their bookstore a reality. However, The Boto (“the pink dolphin” in Portuguese) is now celebrating its first birthday and has become a central part of the city’s cultural landscape.

“We are doing everything we can to keep our doors open during this difficult moment,” the owners wrote in an e-mail. “The situation has become very grave and we will unfortunately not be able to stay open much longer without support.” More information on The Boto’s Indiegogo campaign is available here.

Perseus Moves Seal Press From Avalon to Da Capo Press

Perseus’ Seal Press is transitioning from being an imprint of the Avalon Group to being an imprint of Da Capo Press. Perseus Books Group senior vice president and publisher Susan Weinberg announced the move on Wednesday, June 15, in a letter to colleagues.

Founded in Seattle in 1976, Seal Press has become known for publishing nonfiction books by and for women on topics such as feminism, self-help, parenting, and pop culture. Seal was acquired by Avalon in 2002 and has offices in Berkeley, California, and Boston, Massachusetts. Like Seal, Da Capo, which has its headquarters in Boston, mainly publishes nonfiction.

Renee Sedliar, editorial director of Da Capo Lifelong, Da Capo’s health and wellness imprint, will also become editorial director of Seal, and will continue to report to Da Capo publisher John Radziewicz. Seal executive editor Laura Mazer and senior editor Stephanie Knapp will report to Sedliar. The position of Seal Press publisher is being eliminated; publisher Krista Lyons will be stepping down on July 1 after 19 years at the company.

Hastings Entertainment Files for Bankruptcy

Hastings Entertainment Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is looking for potential buyers, according to a letter from Hastings President and CEO Jim Litwak posted on the chain’s website. The Texas-based company said that it will continue to do business during the selling process and all stores will remain open; however, several programs have been suspended, including game rentals and the Hastings buyback program.

Litwak cited the increasing number of competitors and the declining demand for physical media properties, such as music, movies, books, games, and rentals, as well the financial strain of Hastings’ acquisition of Movie Stop and SPImages, as the reasons for its current position.

Finalists Announced for Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award

The Mark Twain House & Museum has announced the three novels published in 2015 that have been chosen as finalists for its inaugural Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.

The finalists are Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson (William Morrow/HarperCollins); The First Bad Man by Miranda July (Scribner/Simon & Schuster); and The Harder They Come by T. Coraghessan Boyle (Ecco/HarperCollins).

The yearly award was created to “promote Mark Twain’s legacy by acknowledging a work that speaks in a uniquely American voice”; winners are not required to imitate the style of Mark Twain or to write about Mark Twain.

The overall winner of the competition will be chosen by a panel of judges, and the $25,000 award will be presented at a ceremony in September. Each of the two runners-up will receive a $1,000 award.