Publishers Weekly

At the ABA Community Forum, held at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati on February 14, a developing coalition of booksellers spoke on behalf of Palestinians under fire in Gaza and advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

During Winter Institute's closing keynote in Cincinnati, author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin praised indie booksellers and discussed her deeply personal new book, 'An Unfinished Love Story.'

Pete Stavros, co-head of global equity for KKR, said that it will be at least five years before the private equity firm considers selling Simon & Schuster, which it bought last fall. Stavros added that he has many hopes for what S&S can accomplish before he looks for a new home for the company.

Beginning this year, authors who "maintain their primary, long-term home in the U.S., U.S. territories, or Tribal lands," in addition to those with U.S. citizenship, will be eligible for consideration in all categories of the National Book Awards.

Histories of reluctant mayors, edgy newspapers, and scandalous divorces, plus a book of moving conversations with New Yorkers speaking near-dead languages, remind us of the sheer breadth of stories available in the Five Boroughs.

The journalist spoke to the 951 booksellers attending Winter Institute about the Race Card Project, which she launched 14 years ago, and how it has evolved into a much-needed dialogue about both race and identity in the U.S.—and a new book, 'Our Hidden Conversations.'

On February 13, WI2024 presenters brainstormed ways to sustain connections with readers, listened to a 'Beyond the Binary' panel on identity, and lined up to have ARCs signed by nearly 80 authors at a bustling evening reception.

As 'House of Flame and Shadow' hits number one in numerous markets around the world, publisher Bloomsbury predicts that total sales for the company will increase by 10% over last year.

A few booksellers attending Winter Institute 2024 have attracted attention on the show floor over unexpected events occurring back home at their stores. For one, B&N is planning to move next door; for another, a spouse's promotion might take him away from his store; for a third, eviction looms.

A federal judge in California has dismissed a host of claims made by several groups of authors in a now consolidated lawsuit and gave the authors until March 13 to file an amended complaint. The suit’s core claim of direct infringement—which Open AI did not seek to dismiss—remains active.

The literary public relations agency, cofounded by veterans of the William Morrow and Flatiron publicity departments, will specialize in representing queer and feminist authors and organizations.

For nearly a decade, Z2 Comics has worked to merge the twin fandoms of comics and music, collaborating with musicians to produce titles that coexist with their musical work. The result: books that act as bridges between mediums.

Published by Dark Horse Books in collaboration with the African American horror publisher Second Sight Publishing, 'Shook! A Black Horror Anthology' collects a dozen tales of hair-raising terror, monsters, and gore grounded in America’s grim racial history and enlivened by humor and hip-hop culture.

Private equity investor James Rhee, author of 'Red Helicopter,' suggested ways to amplify a bookstore or brand’s intangible qualities, and conflict resolution specialist William Ury, author of 'Possible,' advised booksellers on how to deal with people's differences "constructively."

The first day of the ABA's annual conference tackled topics including the basics of bookselling, marketing and media strategies for booksellers in the digital age, and how publishers can make booksellers' lives easier.

At this year's PubWest Conference, several publishing professionals noted ways they have found to amplify sales by partnering with more nontraditional book retailers, while for others, discussions of A.I. and the future of the industry remained front and center.

In David Shelley's first major appointment since taking over as CEO at Hachette Book Group, Putnam publisher Sally Kim will take the helm of Little, Brown, effective March 4. Kim succeeds Bruce Nichols, who has led the imprint since 2020.

Karina Kupp and Benjamin Davis’s website Chill Subs unites writers around a common goal: making manuscript submissions less onerous.

During his keynote presentation at the Indie Press Summit at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati, Hanif Abdurraqib critiqued the consolidation of the big houses and emphasized the importance of indie presses in the book publishing ecosystem.

Among the week's headlines: The American Library Association announces five new "Core Values" for librarianship; a candidate for Missouri secretary of state campaigns by burning library books with a flamethrower; and OCLC is suing a shadow archive site.