Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, the long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, was under a worldwide embargo until Sep­tember 10, 2019. Amazon shipped “a small number” of copies a week early to customers who’d pre-ordered. A Penguin Random House spokesperson said the books “were distributed early due to a retailer error which has not been rectified. We appreciate that readers and booksellers have been waiting patiently… in order to ...Read More

The American Library Association launched a petition to protest Macmillan’s “recent efforts to limit library access to ebooks.” The petition reads, in part,

Beginning November 1, 2019, Macmil­lan Publishers will allow libraries to pur­chase only one copy of each new eBook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release.

Readers cannot stay silent! We need your help!

This embargo would limit libraries’ abil­ity to provide access to information ...Read More

Audible was recently sued by seven publishers who allege that the audiobook publisher’s new “Captions” feature, which scrolls machine-generated text along with audio narra­tion, violates their copyrights. Audible agreed not to enable the feature “for all audiobooks for which Publishers own, or are the exclusive licensee of, the text or audiobook rights” until the court rules on the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction.

Audible also notified its self-published authors ...Read More

CBS and Viacom are merg­ing, becoming one company again after their sepa­ration in 2006. As a result, their publishing divi­sion Simon & Schuster will report to Viacom CEO Robert Bakish (it previously reported to the head of CBS). S&S head Carolyn Reidy told her staff, “I always say that with change comes opportunity, and we will now be proudly associated with an even more formidable portfolio of brands and content. ...Read More

Strange Horizons has raised its pay rate for fiction to 10 cents per word, for original essays to $90, and for poetry to $50 a poem. The rates will take effect for works published in 2020. They will also collaborate with Be the Serpent for a joint podcast in 2020, and will publish special issues next year on Mexican SF/F and climate change.

While you are here, please take a ...Read More

Magazine distributor Comag Marketing Group (CMG) has acquired Curtis Circulation Com­pany, effective October 1, 2019. CMG will take up obligations and services for Curtis’s existing publisher agreements after that, and Curtis “will provide transition services to CMG to assure a seamless transition.”

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site ...Read More

Haikasoru Books, an imprint of VIZ Media “dedicated to translating Japanese science fiction, fantasy, and horror into English,” will go on hiatus following the November 19, 2019 release of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Vol. 10: Sunset by Yoshiki Tanaka (trans. Matt Treyvaud). Haikasoru editor-in-chief Masumi Washington said,

After this production, I will take a break from new acquisitions for Haikasoru a while and would like to see what I ...Read More

Science Fiction Trails maga­zine has closed following the publication of their 14th issue in April 2019, with magazine editor David B. Riley citing a “huge drop” in sales for the last two issues. The magazine published sci­ence fiction weird Westerns. This does not affect Science Fiction Trails Books, which will release its 11th anthology, Tales from Dry Gulch, in September 2019.

While you are here, please take a moment ...Read More

Penguin Random House has acquired the publishing-related assets of F+W Media, including around 2,000 backlist titles, most illustrated non-fiction. PRH made the winning bid on June 6, 2019 in the auction held by the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. F+W Media’s parent company filed bankruptcy in March 2019.

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

Malcolm Edwards has been named publisher of André Deutsch, a venerable imprint recently acquired by the fledgling Welbeck Publishing Group. Edwards has been charged with “resurrecting and reviving” their backlist and acquiring new titles in the SF, fantasy, horror, crime, and thriller genres.

Deutsch was founded in 1952 and published works by Margaret Atwood, Jack Kerouac, Philip Roth, and John Updike, among others. Edwards says, “The appeal was that it’s ...Read More

Marc Gascoigne has been named publisher of Aconyte, a new fiction imprint from game company Asmodee (which publishes Arkham Horror, Legend of the Five Rings, Pandemic, Dead of Winter, and Catan, among other games). The imprint will focus on titles based on their games, but also has plans to publish tie-in works for other parties. They recently made a deal with Simon & Schuster for US and Canadian distribution, with ...Read More

Amazon’s ongoing legal issues in Europe continue. The Federal Cartel Office in Germany has accepted concessions from Amazon regarding the retailer’s terms for third-party sellers, and has closed the “abuse of dominance” procedure begun last fall. According to Cartel Office head Andreas Mundt, Amazon has agreed to improve “the lack of transparency of the terms of business; the unexpected termination and blocking of sellers accounts…; the lack of possibilities for ...Read More

Comics publisher DC is retiring their Vertigo imprint, created in 1993 to publish edgier and more adult content, including Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Stardust, Bill Willingham’s Fables, Chris Rob­erson’s iZOMBIE, Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, and many other works by authors of interest. The imprint will “sunset” at the end of 2020. DC is reorganizing all of its content under three new age-specific imprints: DC Kids (for readers ...Read More

Compelling Science Fiction has switched to a subscription model with the June issue, their 13th. Publisher Joe Stetch wrote, “New issues will only be available to people who subscribe to the magazine or buy individual issues. Full issues will no longer be posted for free on the website, although the stories that have already been posted will remain up.” He explains, “Moving to a purchase-only model was a difficult decision, ...Read More

Sourcebooks sold 45% ownership of the company to Penguin Random House. PRH will be a “collaborative inves­tor,” with founder and CEO Dominique Raccah working closely with Madeline McIntosh, CEO of Penguin Random House US. Both have seats on the newly created board of directors. There are no immediate changes planned to “leader­ship, management, publishing autonomy, or entrepreneurial culture” at Sourcebooks, which hopes to double in size.

While you are here, ...Read More

Mark Teppo has announced that Underland Press is open to novel submissions. He’s looking for SF, fantasy, dark fantasy, and “noir mystery with a tinge of otherworldliness,” between 75,000 and 100,000 words in length. Submit to <editors@underlandpress.com> with a brief cover letter “that hits the highlights.” Teppo also welcomes submissions to anthology Eighteen in his “loosely tarot-themed” series, due out in late 2020. The 18th tarot card, the Moon, is ...Read More

Baker & Taylor, one of the two major book distributors in the US, will no longer wholesale books to stores. Parent company Follett calls it a “strategic shift,” explaining, “Exiting wholesale book distribution will allow us to align our resources, technology, and people to do what we do best – helping public libraries support the communities they serve.” Baker & Taylor president Dave Cully says they will work “closely with ...Read More

Macmillan Publishers (including Tor, Forge, Tor.com Publishing, St. Martin’s Press, and Farrar, Straus, Giroux, among other imprints) is moving from the Flatiron Building to new, bigger office space in the Equitable Building. The move, first announced back in 2017, is projected to happen in June, with Tor Associates et al moving June 7-10. The new address is 120 Broadway, 22nd Floor, New York NY 10271. [Edited to correct move dates.] ...Read More

Saga Press, launched in 2015 as an imprint of the Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, is now an imprint of the Gallery Publishing Group, effective March 20, 2019. Editorial director Joe Monti and senior editor Navah Wolfe remain with the imprint, and now report to Gallery senior vice-president and publisher Jennifer Bergstrom. Bergstrom explained that despite starting in the children’s division, Saga “has always acquired and published for a ...Read More

Amazon is closing its 87 popup stores by the end of April 2019. A spokesperson said, “After much review, we came to the decision to discontinue our pop-up kiosk program and are instead expanding Amazon Books and Amazon 4-Star, where we provide a more comprehensive customer experience and broader selection.” The company has opened 19 Amazon Books stores, the most recent in Denver CO in March 2019, and has three ...Read More

Editor Arthur A. Levine has left Scholastic after 23 years to launch his own independent publishing company, effective March 30, 2019. Levine’s eponymous imprint was founded in 1996, and he is a major figure in children’s publishing, best known for bringing J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series to the US.

Levine told Publishers Weekly, “I’ve had a wonderful run at Scholastic and will greatly miss working here. There are such strengths ...Read More

F+W Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2019, and plans to sell its assets in order to pay its creditors (at least partially). F+W published some works of SF interest, including collectibles guides from the Krause Publications imprint, art books from the Impact imprint, and writing guides from Writer’s Digest Books. The filing blames the bankruptcy largely on a failed attempt to shift to an e-commerce model in ...Read More

Amazon Publishing has announced a new imprint, Amazon Crossing Kids, publishing picture books in translation, starting in July.

Amazon has cancelled plans to open a new branch office for their headquarters in the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens NY. The local community opposed the plans, voicing concerns about transit and real estate problems, and objecting to the new $3 billion in incentives that New York City and state offered ...Read More