BTW News Briefs

BISG Moves

Effective Tuesday, October 4, the address of the Book Industry Study Group is 1412 Broadway, 21st Floor, Office 19, New York, NY 10018. The organization’s telephone is unchanged.

BISG said that it can immediately start accommodating small committee and working group meetings in its new space.

Harlequin Launches Graydon House Books

On October 5, Harlequin officially launched Graydon House Books, a select hardcover and trade paperback imprint showcasing commercial women’s fiction with a relationship element. Graydon House titles will be “book club-worthy novels,” ranging in tone from lighthearted humor to emotional tearjerkers and edgier drama, written by both new and established names.

Inaugural titles are slated for release in September 2017.

PEN America Names Five to Board of Trustees

PEN America recently broadened its leadership with the appointment of five new trustees to its board: Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House; Lauren Embrey, president and CEO of the Embrey Family Foundation; Saeed Jones, culture editor at BuzzFeed; Dinaw Mengestu, author of All Our Names; and Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life.

“As threats to free expression multiply in every corner of the world — public libraries, university campuses, foreign news bureaus, social media algorithms, and beyond — it is crucial to PEN America to engage an ever-widening community from the worlds of publishing, journalism, activism, and philanthropy to protect this freedom for all,” said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America. “We are thrilled to add the visionary leadership of Markus, Lauren, Saeed, Dinaw, and Hanya to an already formidable Board of Trustees guiding PEN America’s path forward.”

John Ingram Receives BISG Award for Excellence

The Book Industry Study Group’s 2016 BISG Award for Excellence was presented to John R. Ingram, chairman of the Ingram Content Group, by Dominique Raccah, founder and CEO of Sourcebooks, at the BISG Annual Meeting of Members on Friday, September 30, in New York City.

Ingram was honored for leading and transforming Ingram Book Company into Ingram Content Group, a comprehensive publishing industry services company that offers physical book distribution, print-on-demand, and digital services.  

“I’m honored to accept this award from BISG,” Ingram said at the ceremony. “Collaboration among our industry through groups such as BISG has been a big part of Ingram’s transformation. Our transformational journey has been one filled with successes and challenges. Every lesson has been well worth it. We’re proud to have evolved into a comprehensive services provider for the entire book business. We remain committed to transforming and staying relevant to better our industry, to help our colleagues and friends find success, and to ultimately keep getting books in all forms into the hands of readers around the world.”

S&S to Distribute NorthSouth Books

Effective January 1, 2017, Simon & Schuster will handle distribution in the U.S., Canada, and Open Market territories for new and backlist titles of NorthSouth Books, the American-based branch of Swiss publishing company NordSued Verlag.

NorthSouth Books, which was established in 1986, is known for its children’s picture books by writers and artists from around the world.

IPG to Distribute Project Management Institute

IPG Academic and Professional Publishing, a subsidiary of Independent Publishers Group (IPG), is providing global print and e-book sales and distribution for Project Management Institute (PMI) as of October 1.

This partnership comes as PMI prepares to launch A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, publishing in English and 11 official translations; The Standard for Program Management – Fourth Edition; and The Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition in the third quarter of 2017.

PMI’s publishing program features a backlist of more than 100 titles.

National Retail Federation Forecasts Holiday Sales to Increase 3.6 Percent

The National Retail Federation expects sales in November and December, excluding autos, gas, and restaurant sales, to grow 3.6 percent, to $655.8 billion, an increase significantly higher than the 10-year average of 2.5 percent and above the seven-year average of 3.4 percent since the country’s economic recovery began in 2009. NRF is also forecasting that non-store sales will increase between 7 and 10 percent, to as much as $117 billion.

“All of the fundamentals are in a good place, giving strength to consumers and leading us to believe that this will be a very positive holiday season,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in a statement on October 4. “This year hasn’t been perfect, starting with a long summer and unseasonably warm fall, but our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the economy and industry expectations.”

Though consumers have seen steady job and income gains throughout the year, NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz warned that “increased geopolitical uncertainty, the presidential election outcome, and unseasonably warm weather are the main issues at play with the greatest potential to shake consumer confidence and impact shopping patterns.” However, he added, “the economic spending power of the consumer is resilient and it should never be underestimated.”