Canadian independent horror publisher DarkLit Press appears to be defunct; their website and social media accounts are no longer functional, and messages sent to their emails bounce.

Some of their authors, including Steve Stred, have reported problems in recent months, including unpaid royalties, a lack of royalty statements, communication difficulties, and other issues.

DarkLit was founded in 2021 by Andrew Robert, but he left the company earlier this year, with ...Read More

Kerry C. Byrne, CEO of Canadian magazine Augur and the more recently established Tales & Feathers, has announced a restructuring of the Augur Society organization, including magazine pay rates. Toria Liao has been named chief operating officer while longtime Augur co-editor-in-chief Terese Mason Pierre has been named chief program officer.

Augur Magazine and Tales & Feathers Magazine will combine teams and move away from an Editor-in-Chief model, delegating workload. Augur ...Read More

Apex Book Company has announced a new imprint, Violet Lichen Books, headed by editor-in-chief Marissa van Uden.

The imprint will publish horror and dark fiction novellas, with an emphasis on “New Weird, Weird, folk horror, eco-horror, and eco-science-fiction. It fully embraces the strange and uncanny, and its books aim to leave readers feeling a little changed and disquieted, as if they have just emerged from under a strange spell. Violet ...Read More

Arnaud Lagardère, CEO of Lagardère SA (parent company of Ha­chette Book Group), was required to step down from his position after being charged with ‘‘vote buying, abuse of power and breach of trust, dis­seminating false or misleading information and failure to publish accounts.’’ He is under judicial supervision and was ordered to produce a bond of €200,000. The charges stem from an investigation into the battle for control of the ...Read More

Penguin Random House has announced the removal of two of its most prominent publishers: Reagan Arthur, head of Alfred A. Knopf, and Lisa Lucas, who ran Pantheon and Schocken, are both out in a surprise restructuring.

Lucas, at least, didn’t see it coming, posting on social media that she learned of the dismissal on Monday morning, and adding, “I have some regrets about spending the weekend working.”

Knopf Doubleday president ...Read More

Shoreline of Infinity has announced a spin-off publication, SF Caledonia, edited by founding publisher and editor Noel Chidwick. SF Caledonia will showcase “the often overlooked contributions by Scottish writers to the popular worlds of science fiction, speculative fiction and fantasy.” The new publica­ tion will initially re-publish public domain stories, and is also open to “all Scottish writers wishing to submit already published work.” Chidwick says,

From the start, we ...Read More

Lee & Low publishers have released their latest diversity survey, documenting ‘‘incremental’’ changes in the demographics of the publishing industry in North America. ‘‘We know institutional change takes time to bear fruit, which is why revisiting the survey every few years is so vital.’’ The survey reached out to executives and staff at 200 com­panies, including trade and academic presses, literary agencies, and review publications, and received over 8,600 responses. ...Read More

Patrick Nielsen Hayden is transitioning from VP, associate publisher, and editor-in-chief of Tor to editor-at-large for the Tor Publishing Group.

Publisher and president Devi Pillai says,

I’m thrilled to announce that Patrick Nielsen Hayden has assumed the title of Editor-at-Large for the Tor Publishing Group. With 35 years at the company, Patrick has long been a central part of TPG. He is responsible for publishing the debut novels of many ...Read More

Effective March 6, 2024, Bards and Sages Publishing has begun “the process of winding down.” This includes both Bards and Sages Quarterly and The Society of Misfit Stories and the book publishing program. Back issues of the magazines will remain on sale until the end of 2024, and then all back issues will be removed from sale, and all rights will revert to their respective authors and artists. Editor Julie ...Read More

The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction Volume Three anthology is open to submissions until March 31, 2024, covering works originally published in 2023. The book will be published in late 2024 by Caezik SF & Fantasy.​ Editors for this volume are Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Chinaza Eziaghighala.

We welcome submissions of all reprint works of speculative fiction, from any genres and sub genres, including fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, horror ...Read More

Young Adult imprint Balzer + Bray is moving from HarperChildren’s to Macmillan Children’s, effective April 15, 2024. Founding editors Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray will be senior vice-presidents and co-publishers at the new company.

The imprint was founded in 2009 at HarperCollins. Previously published titles, and new books currently under contract, will remain with HarperCollins, to be published under various imprints. No titles for the new incarnation have been announced ...Read More

Orbit’s new digital imprint, Orbit Works, has announced its first four titles, with the first to launch in Fall 2024.

The first Orbit Works title will be Sophia Slade’s Nightstrider, a dark fantasy about creatures with the ability to cross the boundary between the dream realm and the real world. Slade has previously independently published seven books, ranging from dark fantasy to poetry.

Nightstrider will be followed by Laura ...Read More

Independent publisher Soho Press has launched a new horror imprint, Hell’s Hundred:

Named after the once bleak, now chic New York City neighborhood of SoHo—formerly known as “hell’s hundred acres” for its grim industrial facades and deadly fires—Hell’s Hundred provides fertile ground for new nightmares to take root. From grisly and macabre to darkly humorous, Hell’s Hundred publishes bold visions of horror from voices new and established.

The line will ...Read More

In early January, au­diobook publisher Audible announced plans to lay off five percent of its workforce, likely around 100 staffers. CEO Bob Carrigan said in a memo that 2023 was a “strong year,” but that “to position us for continued success in the coming year and into the future, given the increasingly challenging landscape we face, we have to take this difficult decision now.”

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

Tor Publishing Group announced via press release that the Tor.com site will be rebranded as Reactor on January 23, 2024. The launch includes a redesigned website. According to the announcement,

The site has been publisher agnostic since its founding, and the new name will reflect its independence from Tor Publishing Group. The short fiction program will continue under the Reactor name, and in addition to the daily commentary on science ...Read More

Penguin Ran­dom House has released their latest report on workforce demographics, with only small changes from last year. For nonwarehouse employees, 70.05% are white, 10.5% Asian, 9.45% Hispanic, 6.04% Black, and 2.92% bi- or multi-racial.

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other people of color) employees account for 36.9% of entry-level employees, and 19.1% of executives. Overall, 73.75% of PRH employees are women, 24.94% men, and 1.32% nonbinary. In editorial, 36.8% of ...Read More

Arnaud Lagardère is now chair and CEO of Hachette Livre, while remaining CEO of parent company Lagardere (which also owns Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK). He replaces Pierre Leroy, who will remain deputy CEO of Lagardere. Arnaud Lagardère says,

In light of the impending merger of the Lagardère group and Vivendi, I wanted to demonstrate my historical and deep-root­ed attachment to the book trade, which the Lagardère family has ...Read More