BTW News Briefs

Query Books Launches Kickstarter to Reprint Forgotten LGBT Classics

New LGBT publishing company Query Books LLC has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise both money and the visibility of its project to find and reprint lost or forgotten LGBT books.

San Francisco-based Query Books’ Kickstarter campaign will continue until Saturday, November 7, at 5:00 p.m. The minimum goal of $15,000 must be reached if Query is to receive any funds.

Query Books publisher Ken White, who founded the press in July, said curated selections of historically relevant and well-loved titles will be repackaged with a fresh layout, new introductions, and similar cover designs, and will be available both in print and digital formats.

Before founding the press, White was a longtime bookseller, who most recently worked as manager of Books Inc. in the Castro. He currently serves on the Board of the Book Industry Charitable Foundation and is a former ABA Board member.

A Brief History of Seven Killings Wins 2015 Man Booker Prize

Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings (Oneworld Publications) was named the winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction at a black-tie dinner at London’s Guildhall on October 13. James, a resident of Minneapolis, is the first Jamaican author to win the prize in its 47-year history.

His novel is a fictional history of the 1976 attempted murder of Bob Marley, referred to only as ‘The Singer’ throughout the 686-page epic. The book retells the mythic event through myriad voices to create a rich, polyphonic study of the violence, politics, and music of Kingston in the 1970s.

A panel of five judges considered 156 books for this year’s prize. In addition to a £50,000 prize and trophy, James also received a designer bound edition of his book and a further £2,500 for being shortlisted.

This is the second year that the prize, first awarded in 1969, has been open to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the U.K.

Ingram to Offer Global Connect in China, India, and Italy

Ingram Content Group announced on Wednesday that its print-on-demand and distribution services arm, Lightning Source Inc., will now be able to support publishers with print opportunities in China, India, and Italy through its Global Connect program. Ingram will be working with China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation (CNPIEC), Repro India Limited, and Italy’s Rotomail.

David Taylor, senior vice president  of content acquisition at Ingram, said, “Publishers can easily and economically gain access to these and other international markets to reach more readers and realize new streams of revenue with our expanded Global Connect program.”

Global Connect locations already exist in Germany, Russia, Brazil, Poland, and South Korea.

12 Publishers Sign PEN’ s Pledge to Address Chinese Censorship

Twelve U.S. publishers have signed onto a PEN American Center pledge to monitor and address incidents of censorship in translations of books by foreign authors for the Chinese market.

The pledge, whose signatories include Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, W.W. Norton, and Grove Atlantic, affirms that publishers will work to assess whether any book for which the publisher controls Chinese publication rights includes political or historical content that is known to be censored in China. Publishers also pledged to work with authors and with trusted Chinese editors to minimize excisions and changes in the translation and to make sure these authors can make informed decisions on how to respond to censorship.

“The vibrant, varied literature published by these houses is perhaps the greatest tribute possible to the importance of free expression,” said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN American Center. “By joining this pledge — a sort of Hippocratic Oath for the book industry as it expands into China — America’s publishers reaffirm their commitment to upholding free expression as they deepen their connections to the growing Chinese market and readership.”

Other publishers that signed the pledge include Archipelago Books, Beacon Press, Graywolf Press, New Directions Press, OR Books, Other Press, and Workman, as well as the Association of American Publishers’ International Freedom to Publish Committee.