GREGORY BENFORD, 82, had a stroke on December 22, 2022. While his condition is serious, he has moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center, and is reportedly recovering well.
WALTER MOSLEY, 71, won the 2023 Diamond Dagger Award, presented by the Crime Writers’ Association. The award is the highest honor offered by the group, and ‘‘recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked ...Read More
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Penguin Random House has announced plans to separate Crown Publishing Group (CPG), making it independent from the Random House Publishing Group (RHPG). Crown was previously separate before being absorbed in 2018.
The newly reorganized Random House Publishing Group will include Random House, the Dial Press, Hogarth, the Modern Library, One World, Ballantine Bantam Dell/Delacorte, Random House Worlds, Harmony/Rodale, Convergent, and WaterBrook & Multnomah. The new Crown Publishing Group will include ...Read More
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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
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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
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UK publisher Faber announced the winners of the inaugural Imagined Futures Prize for young adult science fiction. Kenechi Udogu won first place with Augmented, Kathryn Clark took second for Things I Learned While I Was Dead, and Sally Gales won third for iNSiDE.
The contest was open to a “young adult (for 12–18 year olds) novel or collection of short stories that can be (loosely) defined as science ...Read More
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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
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The HarperCollins Union has voted to ratify their new contract, and will return to work on February 21, 2023.
HarperCollins Publishers and the Association of HarperCollins Employees affiliated with Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement on February 9, 2023 after being on strike since November 10, 2022.
The new contract includes “increases to minimum salaries across levels throughout the term of the agreement, as well ...Read More
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MILESTONES
LAIRD BARRON was hospitalized in early January 2023 with respiratory problems and other medical issues. Mike Davis has organized a crowdfunding campaign as the author lacks health insurance. Davis says, ‘‘Laird is a private person and I’m trying to convey just how serious this is without revealing too much personal information. Make no mistake: This is very serious, and potentially life-threatening. For more: <www.gofundme.com/f/laird-barron-hospital-costs-medication-costs>.
Author and Locus reviewer PAUL
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
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The HarperCollins Union has reached a tentative agreement with publisher HarperCollins after three months on strike:
HarperCollins Publishers and the Association of HarperCollins Employees affiliated with Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers (UAW), which represents over two hundred HarperCollins employees, have reached a tentative labor agreement. The deal has been agreed to by representatives of the Union and the Company.
The tentative agreement includes increases to minimum salaries across ...Read More
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The proliferation of AI tools continues to make waves in the publishing industry. Apple Books is encouraging small presses and self-published authors to nominate titles for “digital narration,” with plans to produce audiobooks narrated by AI voices. Apple says,
More and more book lovers are listening to audiobooks, yet only a fraction of books are converted to audio – leaving millions of titles unheard. Many authors – especially independent authors ...Read More
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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MILESTONES
ROBIN MCKINLEY is the 39th recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial SFWA Grand Master Award. Her award will be presented during the SFWA Nebula Conference, to be held May 12–14, 2023 at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort in Anaheim, CA.
Tordotcom editor RUOXI CHEN won the $2,500 Superstar prize at Publishers Weekly’s annual Star Watch awards gala, held November 15, 2022 in New York ...Read More
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Gina Centrello, president and publisher of the Random House Publishing Group, is retiring from her position after two decades. She will become strategic advisor to the Random House US board, and “will continue to participate actively in the industry through her work supporting Literacy Partners.” She took over the Group in 2003; before that, she was president and publisher of Ballantine starting in 1999.
She told her staff,
This was ...Read More
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Aconyte Books has a new sales and distribution partnership with Simon & Schuster Australia, covering trade sales in Australia and New Zealand, effective December 15, 2022. Aconyte Books is the book publishing imprint of games publisher and distributor Asmodee.
Macmillan’s “security incident” in June 2022 led to a data breach, as reported in a filing with the office of the Texas Attorney General. The incident “resulted in consumer names, addresses, ...Read More
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Sean Markey, publisher of The Deadlands magazine, has launched a new publishing company, Psychopomp.com. Markey says,
Psychopomp.com is an indie press.
We will start by publishing a couple of novellas per year, and eventually plan to move to publishing novels.
We are also the publisher of The Deadlands (which – nothing is changing, just: The Deadlands is an entity published by Psychopomp.com, instead of being its own independent thing.
The ...Read More
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Editor Scott H. Andrews announced in an editorial that Beneath Ceaseless Skies (BCS) “recuses the magazine from further nominations or finalist appearances for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.” He says:
There are many other indie zines, run by dedicated staff and publishing great and important stories, whose work in our opinion deserves a Best Semiprozine finalist andthe boost in reach and support it can provide. We want to see ...Read More
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Filippo Bernardini, the Italian junior rights manager at Simon & Schuster UK who was charged with wire fraud and “aggravated identity theft,” has pled guilty to “one count of wire fraud in connection with a multi-year scheme to impersonate individuals involved in the publishing industry in order to fraudulently obtain more than one thousand prepublication manuscripts of novels and other forthcoming books.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:
Filippo Bernardini used ...Read More
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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
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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
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Escape Artists (EA) has announced that they will become a 501 (3) (c) nonprofit, effective January 1, 2023. Escape Artists produces genre podcasts Catscast, Cast of Wonders, Escape Pod, Podcastle, and Pseudopod.
Marguerite Kenner, EA’s co-owner, announced:
Since taking the helm in 2014, we’ve brought EA into the forefront of genre publications…. Two new shows joined the original trio, and we’ve been honored with major award wins and nominations including ...Read More
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Vernacular Books, the SF/F publisher founded in 2019 by Eric M. Bosarge & J.M. McDermott, is closing.
Bosarge announced:
After three years and over a dozen titles published, we’ve decided we can no longer continue as a viable business. Kids, work, and other obligations have made continuing impossible.
Vernacular Books published work by A.M. Muffaz, Paul Jessup, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, and many more, and their site also included book reviews. ...Read More
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Amazon has notified magazine publishers that they will be ending their Kindle Publishing for Periodicals Program in September 2023, which means subscribers will no longer be able to receive their print or digital magazines through the site.
Publishers Weekly reported that they “learned that [Amazon] is ending its print textbook rental program, which was established about a decade ago, and will phase out print and digital magazine and newspaper subscriptions ...Read More
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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
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MILESTONES
SF writers J. DIANNE DOTSON & GARETH L. POWELL were married November 5, 2022 in a small ceremony held in Los Angeles CA. Dotson designed her wedding dress herself: “I chose red as it is my favorite color and it honors Gareth being half-Welsh, given the colors of the Welsh flag.”
ALICIA WANSTALL-BURKE is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES is the ...Read More
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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
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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
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