With the threat of a “hard” Brexit looming, European Union-based POD publishers are wondering where to go to print their books. Many so far have been using the services of Lightning Source UK, a division of the Ingram Content Group. But in the event of Britain failing to remain in the European customs union, the importation of books printed in England into the EU may suddenly become subject to customs ...Read More

Penguin Random House US is offering early retirement buyouts to “long-tenured” employees who’ve been with the company for more than 20 years, and who will be 60 years of age or older by the end of 2018. The deadline to take early retirement is October 8, 2018, and those who take the buyout will leave by December 31. Company spokesperson Claire von Schilling told Publisher’s Lunch that the “voluntary separation ...Read More

Abrams has purchased The Overlook Press, with some em­ployees (notably publisher Tracy Carns) set to remain after the transition. The move began in August 2018, with Abrams taking immediate control of all editorial, marketing, and business elements, and planning to take over sales and distribution once existing service contracts run out – Overlook is currently distributed by Nor­ton, while Abrams is distributed by Hachette Book Group.

The Overlook Press was ...Read More

Starting in July, Tor Books has begun delaying release of ebook ver­sions of some titles to the library market for four months after the on-sale date as “part of a test program to determine the impact of eLending on retail sales.” They plan to “work closely with our library vendors who service this channel to evaluate the results and develop ongoing terms that will best support Tor’s authors, their agents, ...Read More

Author Chuck Palahniuk and other clients of literary agency Donadio & Olson have collectively lost millions, victims of a long-running embezzlement scheme allegedly run by agency accountant Darin Webb. Webb reportedly confessed to embezzling at least $3.4 million in author advances and royalties from the agency since January 2011. Webb apparently gave a videotaped interview in March 2018 admitting to the theft, saying his reports “contained false and fraudulent representations ...Read More

Macmillan is celebrating 175 years of operations with events throughout the year, with a “kickoff toast” event at Book Expo, May 30 – June 1, 2018 at the Javits Center in NY. They will publish a history of the company, The Macmillan Story, with distribution to their employees and authors. CEO John Sargent says, “We try to keep that family feel with Macmil­lan. We believe that staying true to our ...Read More

Founder Kathryn Falk and her husband and co-owner Kevin Rubin announced that romance publishing industry magazine RT Book Reviews is shutting down, effective immediately. The long-running RT Booklovers Convention is also ending, with the one held this May 15-20 in Reno NV being the last. This year’s RT Reviewer’s Choice Awards were the last that will be given. Falk wrote, “After 38 years, I am retiring and ending my participation ...Read More

Penguin Books for Young Readers has announced a new imprint, Kokila, focusing on diverse YA and children’s books. Nam­rata Tripathi will be publisher (she was associate publisher and editorial director of Dial Books for Young Readers). They expect to publish between 15 and 20 books per year, both fiction and non-fiction, from picture books to middle-grade and YA, as well as graphic novels. The first titles should launch in summer ...Read More

Skyhorse has eliminated 16 full-time employees (from a total of 77) in “a major reorganization,” and plans to reduce their output of new titles by “approximately 25 percent.” They published around 1,100 titles in 2017. President Tony Lyons says the changes are “in response to shortfalls in Skyhorse revenues in 2017 and early 2018, including issues related to its distribution deal and paper shortages, as well as changes in the ...Read More

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter website Pottermore laid off a number of both senior and junior editorial staff as part of a “reorganization.” A spokesperson said the firings “reflect the evolution of the business and are being handled as sensitively as possible.” Those let go were responsible for writing original content for the site.

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