Publishers Weekly

the week in publishing

Three Wayne State University Press employees who were fired in mid-February—editor-in-chief Annie Martin; editorial, design, and production editor Kristin Harpster; and marketing and sales manager Emily Nowak—have been rehired. Hachette Book Group profits rose last year over 2018 despite a 1% decline in revenue. The earnings increase was attributed to improved operating efficiencies in the year and higher sales of digital audiobooks. Regina Hayes has retired from Viking Children’s Books, where she served as publisher for 30 years and editorat-large since stepping down from that role in 2012. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media revenue fell 9.9% and the division had a net loss of $8.1 million in 2019, compared to a net income of $2.4 million in 2018. A decline in licensing income was cited as the main reason for the drop. Lightning…

the coronavirus scramble

The continuing spread of the new coronavirus is sowing uncertainty across many parts of the book world. Already, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, originally set for March 30–April 2, has been moved to May 4–7 following an outbreak of the virus in northern Italy. Reed Exhibitions issued a statement last week saying its London Book Fair will proceed as planned on March 10–12 but added that it is tracking developments. Even as LBF moves ahead, late last week word began circulating that a growing number of Americans will skip the fair. A Simon & Schuster spokesman said that “out of concern for the health and safety of our employees,” the company has decided not to attend LBF. The spokesman added that staff that was planning to attend are “looking into alternate…

print unit sales inched up in late february

Unit sales of print books rose 0.9% in the week ended Feb. 22, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The juvenile fiction category had the largest increase over the week ended Feb. 23, 2019, posting a 5.5% gain. The annual Dr. Seuss promotion began to kick in during the week, and five of the top 10 books in the category were by the popular author, led by Green Eggs and Ham, which sold more than 14,000 copies, placing it second on the category list, trailing Dav Pilkey’s Fetch-22 (Dog Man #8), which sold nearly 19,000 copies in the week. Print unit sales rose 1.4% over 2019 in the adult nonfiction category. Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant was #1 on the adult nonfiction…

book-toy synergies abound at toy fair

For toy makers and publishers alike, the potential impact of the new coronavirus on their respective industries was one of the main topics of conversation at the 117th edition of Toy Fair New York, which ran February 22–25 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The number of attendees, which is generally about 25,000 (final figures weren’t available at press time), was also expected to be down somewhat, as the U.S. has been denying entry to anyone who has been in China during the previous 14 days. Despite the lack of Chinese visitors, traffic on the show floor did not seem significantly lighter than in a typical year. When the fair opened, the booth displays of the approximately 30 publishers and authors exhibiting their books and sidelines illustrated how the children’s book…

lil’ libros lands bilingual children’s cookbook

Lil’ Libros, a Latina-led independent press, has signed a deal to publish a children’s cookbook by Marcela Valladolid. Valladolid is a celebrity chef, bestselling author, designer, mother, and businesswoman. She has also hosted two TV series (Mexican Made Easy and Relatos Con Sabor) and cohosted the Emmy-nominated Food Network show The Kitchen, as well as appearing as a celebrity judge for three seasons on Food Network’s Best Baker in America. Valladolid’s fourth adult cookbook, Fiestas: Tidbits, Margaritas & More, was published last year by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Lil’ Libros is a bilingual children’s book publisher in Los Angeles, started by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein in 2014 with the mission of publishing books that celebrate Latin American culture and important figures in its history. To date, the company has published 23…

deals

DEAL OF THE WEEK SMP Goes Big for Gramont’s ‘Mystery’ In a rumored seven-figure deal, Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin’s Press preempted Nina de Gramont’s novel The Mystery Writer. The world rights agreement was brokered by Peter Steinberg at Foundry Literary + Media. The work, SMP said, centers on the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie, who went missing for 11 days in 1926. The publisher explained that the novel “is told through the point of view of husband Archie Christie’s mistress.” Gramont, who teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, is the author of numerous books for teens and adults; her 2001 debut, the short story collection Of Cats and Men, won a Discovery Award from the New England Booksellers Association. Film rights to the work are…