The Chilean Sci­ence Fiction & Fantasy Association (also known as ALCIFF: Asociación de Literatura de Ciencia Ficción y Fantástica Chilena) hosted its first national convention, AL­CIFFCON, in Santiago, Chile from Novem­ber 25-27, 2022, with over a hundred reg­istered members. They also presented two new literary prizes: the Altísimo Awards and the Aspasia Awards.

The Altísimo Award (Premio Altísimo) 2022 for Best Work Published in 2020-2021 was awarded to Adiós, loxonauta ...Read More

According to The Bookseller, Bethan Morgan has been promoted to editorial director at Orion’s genre imprint Gollancz. Deputy publisher Gillian Redfearn is returning from maternity leave and will report to publisher Emad Akhtar. Morgan and publishing director Marcus Gipps will report to Redfearn, and editor Brendan Durkin and editorial assistant Áine Feeney will report to Morgan; assistant editor Claire Ormsby-Potter will be reporting to both Morgan and Gipps. Morgan will ...Read More

Penguin Random House UK is giving its lowest-paid employ­ees (those making £30,000 or less) a five percent raise and a one-time bonus of four percent of their salary in order to address inflation. Those who earn £30,000-£50,000 will receive five percent raises and a one percent payment; employees who make £50,000-£80,000 get a four percent raise and a one percent payment; and those who get more than £80,000 can expect ...Read More

Tor Publishing Group has announced a new romance imprint, Bramble, featuring work in a variety of subgenres: “From science fiction and fantasy to contemporary and family saga, romance belongs in every genre and every genre belongs in Bramble.”

Monique Patterson is moving from St. Martin’s to launch the imprint as VP, editorial director beginning February 27, 2023.

Patterson brings almost 25 years of publishing experience, specifically in romance, to the ...Read More

Madeline McIntosh will leave her position as CEO of Penguin Random House US following a transition period:

I am stepping down from my position as your U.S. CEO. I’m not leaving right away; instead, Nihar [Malaviya] and I are working very closely together to determine the best plan for the U.S. organization going forward. I know you’ll be in good hands with Nihar and the U.S. Board. They know and ...Read More

HarperCollins and the striking members of the HarperCollins Union have agreed to enter mediation to settle their differences.

Publishers Weekly reported on a company-wide HarperCollins memo that says,

We entered negotiations eager to find common ground, and we have remained committed to achieving a fair and reasonable contract throughout this process…. We are optimistic that a mutually agreed upon mediator can help find the solutions that have eluded us so ...Read More

Amanda Rutter has joined Rebellion imprint Solaris as commissioning editor. Rutter said, “I am a big fan of the Solaris imprint so I am utterly delighted to become part of such a brilliant team.”

Prior to Solaris, Rutter was an agent with Azantian Literary Agency. She has also worked for Red Sofa Literary Agency, Angry Robot, Aconyte, and Titan.

For more information, see the announcement in The Bookseller.

While you ...Read More

Tor posted a statement online after receiving widespread criticism on social media in December 2022, criticism based on its cover reveal of Christopher Paolini’s Fractal Noise that appears to include AI-gen­erated graphics. Many illustrators and artists are understandably troubled by the implications of AI-generated images, both because of the po­tential to take creative work away from human artists, and because the AI tools are trained on artwork that is usually ...Read More

Navah Wolfe has joined Astra House imprint DAW Books as executive editor. Wolfe said:

I’ve been reading and loving DAW books for as long as I can remember. DAW has published some of my all-time favorite writers, old and new—so it’s an honor and a privilege to join the DAW team. I’m excited to publish more wonderful writers and books on DAW’s list!

Wolfe has over 15 years as an ...Read More

The HarperCollins Union remains on strike since walking off the job on November 10, 2022, with no end in sight.

In late November 2022, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray wrote an open letter to authors and agents who’ve supported the strike: ‘‘While we don’t typically comment on negotiations, I feel we owe you a response and want to share some additional background.’’ He defended the com­pany’s salary and benefit offerings, pointing ...Read More

Galaxy’s Edge is switching from bi-monthly magazine publication to become a twice-yearly anthology series.

Editor Lezli Robyn says,

Penguin Random House has released their third yearly report on workforce demographics as part of their ongoing dedication to improving diversity, showing only modest changes from last year. For non-warehouse employees, 71% are white, 10% Asian, 9% Latino, 6% Black, and 3% bi- or multi-racial. Native Americans and native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders make up 1.08%. These numbers indicate at one percent increase in Black employees and a 2% increase ...Read More

The USA Today Bestseller List is currently on hiatus, with their last update to the list on December 1, 2022. The USA Today list began in 1993, and “is a ranking of the top-selling titles each week from a broad range of retail outlets including major chains, independent bookstores and online retailers. It reflects combined sales of titles in print and electronic format, if available.”

Longtime editor Mary Cadden has ...Read More

Future SF is going on hiatus following the publication of the December 2022 issue, #17.

Editor Alex Shvartsman says,

Running a magazine, even a quarterly one, is an extremely labor- and time-intensive enterprise. I’ve been really struggling to keep up with its demands for a while now and do not feel I can continue to do a good-enough job while also keeping up with my day job, family, and any ...Read More

Black Cat Weekly is shut­ting down their website on January 2, 2023, and will now be hosted at <blackcatweekly.com>. Subscribers should be migrated automatically, but if they “receive a renewal notice from PayWhirl.com, please cancel through PayWhirl.com and renew through blackcatweekly.com instead – the new web site is faster, easier, and allows you to man­age your account directly. It’s just better!”

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