BTW News Briefs

Candlewick to Publish Interactive Tie-Ins to J.K. Rowling Movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Candlewick Press has sublicensed rights from Insight Editions in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to publish “a significant program of interactive children’s books tying into the J.K. Rowling movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Candlewick’s program launches with four novelty titles for October 2016. Title and ordering information are available in the Candlewick Press Fall 2016 Drop-In Catalog on Edelweiss. The ordering deadline is August 5, 2016.

IndieCommerce stores will be taking pre-orders for the new titles.

Candlewick’s sister companies — Walker Books UK and Walker Books Australia — will also publish a “slate of titles” produced by Insight Editions.

Booksellers with questions should contact their Candlewick sales reps.

IPG Acquires INscribe Digital

Independent Publishers Group (IPG) has purchased e-book distributor INscribe Digital, a San Francisco-based technology company specializing in publishing services and tools for book publishers, university and independent presses, literary agents, and authors.

IPG’s acquisition of INscribe Digital, which is to become a division of the company, adds more than 300 clients and 65,000 e-book titles to IPG’s roster. The acquisition also includes INscribe Digital’s distribution platform, marketplace monitoring tool, and the INscribe Digital staff.  

INscribe Digital clients will now have access to the IPG distribution network.

Simon &Schuster to Distribute Hazelden Publishing

Simon & Schuster has entered a sales and distribution agreement with Hazelden Publishing.

Under the agreement, effective January 1, 2017, Simon & Schuster will handle trade sales and distribution of Hazelden’s print and digital books in North America.

Since it was founded in 1954 with the publication of Twenty-Four Hours a Day, Hazelden, a division of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, has shifted from an exclusive focus on recovery literature, to include self-help books such as New York Times bestseller Codependent No More by Melody Beattie.

Women’s National Book Association Announces New Executive Officers

The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) will be led by a new slate of executive officers for 2016-2018.

The organization’s new president is Jane Kinney Denning, the executive director of internships and corporate outreach for the masters in publishing program at Pace University and the immediate past-president of WNBA’s NYC Chapter.

WNBA’s new co-vice presidents are Rachelle Yous, membership assistant at PEN Center USA and current president of WNBA’s Los Angeles Chapter, and Sarah “Bebe” Brechner, who holds a MLIS degree in library and information sciences and works at ProQuest LLC, and has served as WNBA’s Nashville Chapter President.

A new recording secretary and treasurer were also part of the slate of officers who will be leading the organization as it prepares to celebrate its centennial anniversary year beginning in October 2017.

2016 SCIBA Book Award Finalists Announced

The Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) has announced the finalists in seven categories for its 2016 SCIBA Book Awards.

Titles are nominated by industry professionals and chosen by independent booksellers, and represent the best regional offerings from the previous year. All books submitted for consideration are written or illustrated by Southern California residents, with the exception of the Glenn Goldman Award for Art, Architecture, and Photography.

This year, SCIBA received nearly 200 nominations. See the finalists for each category here.

Awards for the winning titles will be presented during the SCIBA Fall Trade Show on October 22 at The Garland in North Hollywood.

PEN America Urges Presidential Candidates to Provide Open Environment for Journalists

More than 20,000 Americans have signed a petition calling on the Republican and Democratic parties and their presumptive presidential nominees to create an open environment for reporters at the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

On Monday, July 18, PEN America, in partnership with The Nation, People for the American Way, Free Press, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, The Intercept, The Progressive, and others, delivered the petition to the campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The petition urges the candidates to uphold the freedom of the press as put forth in the U.S. Constitution, as well as to denounce journalist intimidation tactics used by campaign supporters. 

Signatories to the petition include numerous authors, artists, and journalists, including Stephen Sondheim, Judy Blume, Neil Gaiman, Lois Lowry, George Saunders, John Green, Colum McCann, Jane Smiley, and Khaled Hosseini.