Michi Trota has stepped down as editor-in-chief of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s (SFWA) publications department, which produces The Bulletin, the annual Nebula Showcase Anthology, The Singularity, and New Releases Newsletter. Trota said,

It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as SFWA Editor-in-Chief. Being the first person of color to step into this role at SFWA was an opportunity I had never envisioned ...Read More

Agent Ginger Clark has left her position as vice president at Curtis Brown to found her own agency, Ginger Clark Literary. She is joined by Nicole Eisenbraun (also formerly of Curtis Brown), as agent and translation rights manager.

Clark began her career as an agent at Writers House, and joined Curtis Brown in 2005. She represents Richard Kadrey, Tim Pratt, Patricia C. Wrede, and the estate of Ursula K. Le ...Read More

Dave Eggers’s upcoming novel The Every (McSweeney’s), sequel to The Circle, is being published on October 5, 2021 as a hard­cover exclusively available from indie bookshops and the publisher’s website. Eggers explained the decision, in an email to Publishers Lunch: “I don’t like bullies. Amazon has been kicking sand in the face of independent bookstores for de­cades now.” Trade paperback and ebook editions published by Vintage will follow on ...Read More

Uncanny Magazine nonfiction editor Elsa Sjunneson will be stepping down after issue #42 (September/October 2021) to focus on other projects. The magazine is seeking applicants to fill the position, which will begin in August 2021 and includes a modest stipend.

We’re looking for someone with a deep love and knowledge of science fiction and fantasy, and some experience in editorial work and publishing. The Nonfiction Editor position will allow opportunities ...Read More

The merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has been approved in the UK by the Competition & Markets Authority. Simon & Schuster’s UK division had 2019 sales of £41.5 million. The merger is still under review by the Department of Justice in the US.

Arc Manor Publishing now has two speculative fiction imprints: Phoenix Pick produces print-on-demand work, while CAEZIK SF & Fantasy has traditional distribution via ...Read More

As vaccination be­comes more widespread and the pandemic seems to be on the wane in the US and UK, major publishers in in both countries have begun planning to return to the office, but they’re not just going back to the way things used to be.

Madeline McIntosh, CEO of Penguin Random House, wrote to staff that the company is “planning for the next normal,” and expects to reopen some ...Read More

Fireside interim editorial director Brian J. White has announced several changes to the magazine’s management and policies. White will no longer be editorial director, and Pablo Defendini has stepped down from all duties at Fireside Fiction Company.

LeKesha Lewis will take over as publisher, and Chelle Parker will be managing editor. These changes stem from Defendini’s “publication of a racist audio recording” last year.

In order to avoid anything like ...Read More

Strange Horizons has announced the departure of editor-in-chief Vanessa Rose Phin, poetry editor Stephen Ira, articles editor Lulu Kadhim, and several first readers. Gautam Bhatia will act as co-ordinating editor, and Romie Stott will be administrative editor.

Keeping with our tendencies towards anarchic cooperation, Strange Horizons will no longer have an Editor-in-Chief, but a more explicitly (strange) horizontal structure; while the several departments have always been autonomous with respect to ...Read More

Stéphane Marsan, co-founder of major French SF imprint Bragelonne, has been accused of inappropri­ate behavior and sexual harassment by more than 20 people, including authors and former employees. The investigative report was published by French journal Mediapart in April 2021. Marsan wrote an extensive letter in reply, denying any wrongdoing and threat­ening legal action for defamation. Bragelonne was founded in 1995 by Marsan and Alain Névant, and is widely credited ...Read More

Hachette Book Group published their annual diversity update, covering 2020. They announced increases in staff diversity at all levels in the company, the largest being a 31% increase among senior managers, including directors and higher (though they’re still almost 80% white). Employees identifying as BIPOC increased seven percent in 2020. Acquisitions saw a bump, too: new authors and illustrators of color made up 29% of book deals, compared to 22% ...Read More

The sale of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s publishing company, HMH Books & Media, to News Corp (parent company of HarperCollins) is complete… and doesn’t include the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt name, which the original parent company intends to keep for its technology business. HarperCollins says they will phase out use of the name, ending a legacy that began over a century and a half ago when Boston printer Henry Houghton branched out ...Read More

PodCastle co-editors Jen Albert and Cherae Clark are stepping down from their positions in order to focus on other career and time commitments. Replacing them will be PodCastle associate editor and copyeditor Eleanor R. Wood, and Voodoonauts cofounder Shingai Njeri Kagunda.

The upcoming stories through the rest of the year will likely be some combination of stories that Jen and Cherae picked out from the submissions periods of 2020, and ...Read More

Departure Mirror Quarterly has announced it will cease publication after the Spring 2021 issue. It published three issues of SF/F fiction and poetry billed as “a departure from and a mirror on reality.” Editor-in-chief Arthur Robert Tracy IV cited readership decline, low ad response rate, and day job commitments as factors for the closure.

A big part of our decision to start the magazine was that I kept seeing great ...Read More

Gold SF, a new imprint of Goldsmith Press, is calling for submissions. The imprint is “dedicated to discovering and publishing new intersectional femi­nist science fiction, promoting voices that answer to the unprecedented times in which we find ourselves.” They are interested in books dealing with anti-ratio­nalism and the rise of the alt-right; the climate crisis and feminism in the Age of the Anthropocene; global movements of populations and refugees; new ...Read More

Deep Magic, “the e-zine of clean fantasy and science fiction,” announced that it will cease publication following the release of a “best of” anthology this month, their Summer 2021 issue in June, and a collection of remaining issues in August. Founder Jeff Wheeler and managing editor Brendon Taylor cited financial shortfalls and time obligations as causes for the closure.

For more information, see the Deep Magic Facebook page.

While you ...Read More

Disney Publishing is launch­ing new adult imprint Hyperion Avenue, headed by Jennifer Levesque, with its first books launching in Summer 2021, and a full slate expected by Fall 2022. They anticipate releasing 50 to 60 titles per year within five years, and hope to acquire titles that can be adapted for Disney’s various media arms, including streaming service Disney+. The Walt Disney Co. previously sold most of its adult publishing ...Read More

Speculative poetry and flash fiction magazine Arsenika announced that it will permanently close following the release of its upcoming Spring 2021 issue. The magazine ran for five years, starting with Issue 0 in Winter 2017. Issue 8 will be the last, and will include a longer statement from editor S. Qiouyi Lu.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. ...Read More

Experimenter Publishing Company has announced that, due to ongoing legal issues with a licensing agreement, it is placing Amazing Stories magazine on indefinite hiatus. Amazing Stories publisher Steve Davidson said,

Experimenter Publishing hopes to get our current issue, featuring Canadian Writers and Artists, published once we raise funds to cover expenses.

The Amazing Stories website will continue to publish on a daily basis and is not expected to be affected. ...Read More

There have been big changes at Quirk Books. Brett Cohen has resigned as president and publisher, end­ing a 20-year career there, with owner/founder David Borgenicht returning as president and Jhanteigh Ku­pihea promoted to publisher. Nicole De Jackmo rises to the new position of senior vice president of sales, marketing, and publicity. Megan Dipasquale was promoted to vice president of finance, Andie Reid to art director, Jane Morley to managing editor, ...Read More

News Corp, parent company of HarperCollins Publishers, has announced that it will acquire Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s (HMH) publishing company, HMH Books & Media, for $349 million in cash.

HMH will become part of HarperCollins, the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world. The deal will add more than 7,000 titles to the HarperCollins backlist, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and other titles by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1984 and Animal ...Read More

Children’s publisher Egmont UK, which became part of HarperCollins UK in May 2020, is now being renamed as Farshore.

This mission underpins our broad and inclusive portfolio of child-friendly picture books, fiction, non-fiction and brands. We aim to inspire reading for pleasure for all ages, from the most ...Read More

The Authors Guild, the Open Markets Institute, and various writing organizations (including the Horror Writers Association and the Romance Writers Association) have released an open letter to the US Department of Justice, urging them to reject the proposed merger of Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House on antitrust grounds:

The deal would bring well more than half of key U.S. book markets under the control of a single corporation, ...Read More