BTW News Briefs

Penguin Random House Acquires Literary Merchandise Company Out of Print

Penguin Random House (PRH) has acquired Out of Print, the creator and retailer of licensed illustrated literary-themed products, including T-shirts and adult and children’s apparel, accessories, and home goods featuring iconic book cover art and original designs.

The PRH announcement noted that Out of Print’s book-loving and socially responsible approach closely aligns with its values, and that the acquisition signals its intent to greatly expand its author- and imprint-brand-based merchandising capabilities.

Out of Print will continue to operate independently out of its Manhattan headquarters, with company founders Todd Lawton and Jeffrey LeBlanc both serving in the newly created positions of managing director, Out of Print, reporting to Alison Rich, vice president, publishing innovation development, Penguin Random House.

HarperCollins, Harlequin Make Leadership Changes

Three years after the acquisition of Harlequin, HarperCollins is making changes to its international and North American executive teams, according to Publishers Weekly.

Chantal Restivo-Alessi, chief digital officer and executive vice president, international, for HarperCollins Publishers, will now oversee all foreign-language publishing in addition to leading the company’s Global Publishing Program.

Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategic Operations Rob Zaffiris has been named chief financial officer for HarperCollins International and head of corporate development. Harlequin International COO Steve Miles is retiring after 17 years with the company. Zaffris and Miles’ teams, which are located in Toronto, will report to Restivo-Alessi.

Craig Swinwood has been named CEO of Harlequin and HarperCollins Canada.

C-SPAN Coverage of Hillary Clinton at BookExpo Now Online

A video of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appearance at BookExpo 2017 is now available for viewing on the C-Span website. “An Evening With Hillary Rodham Clinton” features the former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate being interviewed on Thursday, June 1, by author Cheryl Strayed.

More videos will be added to C-SPAN’s website in the coming weeks, including interviews with Ed Asner and Alan Alda.

Audie Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 22nd annual Audie Awards were announced at a gala on Thursday, June 1, at the French Institute Alliance Française in New York City.

The Audie Awards, which recognize distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment, are sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (APA). The finalists in 29 categories were announced in February.

The 2017 Audie Award-winning titles and finalists, with sound clips and reviews in all categories, can be found on the AudioFile magazine website.

Karan Mahajan Wins NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award

Karan Mahajan has won the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award for The Association of Small Bombs (Penguin). Mahajan received his award at a ceremony on Thursday, June 1, at the library.

The NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award presents a $10,000 prize each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories. This year’s other finalists were Clare Beams, We Show What We Have Learned (Lookout Books); Brit Bennett, The Mothers (Riverhead); Kaitlyn Greenidge, We Love You, Charlie Freeman (Algonquin); and Nicole Dennis-Benn, Here Comes the Sun (Liveright).

The prize, established in 2001, is part of the New York Public Library’s Young Lions program, a membership group for people in their 20s and 30s who are committed to supporting the library and to celebrating the city’s young writers and artists.