BTW News Briefs

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

On December 2, digital audiobook company Libro.fm asked customers to participate in Real People Monday on the day commonly known as Cyber Monday. New Libro.fm members could get four audiobooks for the price of one, plus Circe by Madeline Miller, and all Libro.fm customers had the chance to earn two free audiobooks for every referral. The day resulted in the highest number of Libro.fm audiobook membership sign-ups over a two-day period in the history of the company, and the most referrals sent by customers inviting friends to try Libro.fm audiobooks ever sent in a one-day period.

In a November 30 article, the New York Times took a look at the effect that Amazon has had on the city of Baltimore, showing how Amazon is able to reach into Americans’ daily existence in more ways than any corporation in history. The article was written in light of the fact that federal regulators and Congress are currently assessing whether Amazon’s market power should be curbed under antitrust law.

Nominations are now open for the 4th Annual Anna Dewdney Read Together Award, founded in honor of the late author and illustrator of the beloved Llama Llama series. Before February 14, 2020, booksellers are encouraged to nominate up to five of their favorite read-together picture books published in the last five years in the United States. The award is presented in part by Penguin Young Readers, the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader.

Quarto will reactivate Frances Lincoln and Aurum Press as trade imprints starting in January 2020. This change comes after the company simplified its adult publishing structure in 2018 under the White Lion Publishing banner.

Caitlin Lawler has joined the marketing department at Sourcebooks as marketing associate. 

Brian Belfiglio has been promoted to vice president, director of publicity and marketing at Scribner, where he will oversee the merging of the publicity and marketing teams.

Rebecca Carlisle has been promoted to executive director of marketing and publicity for the Workman imprint at Workman Publishing. 

The Children’s Book Council presented its second annual CBC Diversity Outstanding Achievement Awards on November 19. Award recipients included Andrea Davis Pinkney, vice president and executive editor at Scholastic; Namrata Tripathi, founder, vice president, and publisher of Penguin’s Kokila imprint; Varian Johnson and The Brown Bookshelf; and Just Us Books founders Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson.

The Financial Times/McKinsey 2019 Business Book of the Year Award was presented to Caroline Criado Perez for Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (Harry N. Abrams).

At the 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards, I’m Your Daughter, Jule: Caring for a Parent with Dementia by Julie A. Gorges earned the $500 Grand Prize as well as First Place designations in the Aging/Senior Living, How-To, and Self-Help/Inspirational categories. A list of all the winners can be found here.

The longlist has been announced for the U.K.’s 43rd annual Wingate Prize, which recognizes the best book to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader. The Wingate Prize shortlist will be announced February, and the winner will be announced on March 16. The award is worth £4,000 (roughly $4,240) and is run in association with JW3, a Jewish communtiy center in London.

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