Short news items from the world of book publishing:
02/03/2026
Aya Elamroussi Named HBG Comms Director
Elamroussi has been named Hachette Book Group’s new director of communications, effective immediately. Most recently, she led internal and external comms for the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.02/03/2026
Ukrainian Awards Proceed Amid Blackout
The third edition of the Chytomo Awards, which honor the best in Ukrainian publishing, took place January 29 in Kyiv, despite frigid temperatures and a blackout resulting from Russian drone attacks.02/02/2026
Cara O’Neil to Head Up Marketing at Mad Cave
O’Neil joins the graphic novel publisher as its director of marketing from Dark Horse Comics, where she most recently served as VP of marketing.02/02/2026
AALA Appoints First-Ever Executive Director
Daniel O’Brien, who also serves as executive director of the Independent Publishers Caucus, joins the Association of American Literary Agents, effective immediately.01/30/2026
Hanover Square Takes ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ Sequel
Grace Towery at Hanover Square won, at auction, U.S. rights to Audrey Niffenegger’s Life Out of Order from Joe Regal at Regal Hoffmann, for an October release, as well as print and e-book rights to The Time Traveler’s Wife.01/30/2026
TokyoPop Forays into Audiobooks
The manga publisher’s debut audiobook line will pull from its catalog of light novels, published under its LoveLove imprint. RBMedia will distribute.01/29/2026
Tyrrell Mahoney Elected AAP Chair
The president of Chronicle Books has been elected Chair of the Board of the Association of American Publishers for the 2026-2027 term.01/29/2026
NYPL’s Schomburg Center Unveils ‘100 Black Voices’
The list, which celebrates the center’s centennial, gathers 100 books written by Black authors, as recommended by writers, artists, and journalists. New York Public Library card holders can immediately access the titles as e-books and audiobooks.01/29/2026
Collective Book Studio Starts Children’s Imprint
Rebekah Lovato Piatte has joined the California indie publisher in the newly created role of children’s editorial director, overseeing Tiny Torch Books, a new imprint aimed at readers ages up to 8.01/29/2026
ABA Relaunches Indie Booksellers Awards
The American Booksellers Association announced that it is reviving its Indies Choice Book Awards, the literary prize program that was initially launched in 1991 and has been on hiatus since 2019.01/28/2026
Judge Named in New Anthropic Suit, Settlement Deadline Pushed
Judge Trina Thompson has been assigned to preside over Carreyrou v. Anthropic, filed by authors who opted out of a recent $1.5 billion settlement from the AI company. The deadline to opt out of that settlement has also been extended.01/28/2026
Bloomsbury Opens Academic Office in Singapore
The U.K.-based company has opened Bloomsbury Singapore in a move chief executive Nigel Newton said will “expand our activity in the region and capitalize on the growing student population.”01/28/2026
LBF to Move to Excel in 2027
The London Book Fair has announced it will relocate to the east London event space from its current home in Olympia as part of a multi-year deal.01/28/2026
House Reps Reintroduce Prison Libraries Act
Originally proposed in 2023, the Prison Libraries Act would authorize $10 million in competitive grant funding annually through 2031 and would help incarcerated people access literature and educational resources.01/28/2026
akaStory Nets Three Romance Titles for Inaugural List
Kate Roddy won North American rights to The Paris Proposal and two additional titles by Kristen Gordon Chaudière (r.) and Erin Baldwin (l.).01/27/2026
IMLS Announces Grant Funding to ‘Combat Antisemitism’
Discretionary grant funding of almost $3 million for four institutions was announced by the Institute of Museum and Library Services on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27.01/27/2026
Academy of American Poets Adds New Chancellors
Gabrielle Calvocoressi (l.) and Cornelius Eady have joined the organization’s Board of Chancellors, composed of 15 poets that advise the Academy, judge its largest prizes, and serve as ambassadors of the art form.01/27/2026
NYPL Offers Instant Access to Game Changers Books
New York Public Library card holders can immediately download ebook and audiobook copies of Rachel Reid’s hockey series, including Heated Rivalry, through February 14. After a shoutout from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, NYPL said downloads surged by 529%.01/26/2026
Will Eisner Week to Return This March
The annual series, which will be held from March 1–7, celebrates the pioneering cartoonist with a series of events in libraries, schools, bookshops, and other venues around the world. Organizers said more than 200 organizations have signed up so far.01/26/2026
Ingram, Pearson Back AI Licensing Company
Cashmere.io, a company offering secure AI licensing tools to publishers, has received $5 million in seed funding from a group of backers including Ingram Content Group, Pearson, and Naver.01/23/2026
Cassandra Pelham Fulton Elevated to Graphix Associate Publisher
Fulton first joined the Scholastic imprint in 2006, shortly after its founding. Previously serving as editorial director, she edited the 2025 hit The Cartoonists Club and worked on such series as Heartstopper and The Baby-Sitters Club.01/23/2026
Folio Names Ex-PRH Exec to Lead Acquisitions
Jane Kirby, former rights director at Penguin Random House UK, is joining the Folio Society in the new role of head of acquisitions. The company posted 13% sales growth in 2025.01/23/2026
New Voices New Rooms 2026 Sets Date, Venue
The annual joint trade show of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association will take place August 2–5 in Baltimore.01/23/2026
Distribution Deals for the Week of January 19, 2026
IPG signs on six new publishers, Macmillan inks a deal with Apollo Publishers, and more.01/22/2026
IMLS Opens Grant Programs for Native Libraries
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has opened to grant proposals for one-to-two-year projects led by Native Hawaiian, Native American, and Alaska Native organizations.01/22/2026
Will Schwalbe Announces Retirement
Schwalbe, who served as editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books and William Morrow before joining Macmillan in 2014, will retire from his role as publisher-at-large at the publisher effective January 31.01/22/2026
We Need Diverse Books Announces ‘Unbanned’ Initiative
The children’s literature nonprofit has launched the Unbanned Book Network, which will provide 20 under-resourced schools, including in the book banning hotspots of Texas and Florida, with diverse titles by censored authors.01/22/2026
MoCCA Arts Festival Set for March
The 24th annual celebration of illustrators, cartoonists, and comics artists—presented by the Society of Illustrators—will return to New York City from March 28-29.01/16/2026
Morrow Scores Kelce Brothers’ ‘No Dumb Questions’
Mauro DiPreta at William Morrow won world rights to the debut book by NFL sibling duo Jason and Travis Kelce from Wondery. The book draws on the Superbowl Champions and New Heights podcast hosts’ football knowledge and shared childhood, as well as a “sle01/16/2026
ILP Secures $100 Million Bank Debt Financing
Estate management firm International Literary Properties has secured a five-year credit facility from Fifth Third Bank, providing access to more than $100 million in what ILP CFO Amanda Siconolfi called a “landmark transaction.”01/16/2026
Distribution Deals for the Week of January 12, 2026
Simon & Schuster inks a deal with Severn River Publishing, and SPCK Group teams up with Baylor University Press.01/16/2026
Kelley Ragland, Catherine Richards Up at Minotaur
Ragland (l.) has been promoted to SVP and publishing director, while Richards has been named VP and associate publisher of the St. Martin’s mystery imprint.01/15/2026
Laura Keefe to Join RHPG
In her new role as VP and executive director of marketing, Keefe will oversee marketing efforts for Random House, One World, Dial, Hogarth, and Modern Library. Most recently, she served as VP and senior director of marketing at Knopf.01/15/2026
IPA Opens Nominations for Prix Voltaire
The annual honor, presented by the International Publishers Association, celebrates publishers who are “upholding the freedom to publish and enabling others to exercise their freedom of expression.”01/15/2026
Cardinal to Publish New Novel by Min Jin Lee
Ben Sevier at Grand Central Publishing landed North American and audio rights to American Hagwon, with Cardinal publisher Reagan Arthur to edit. Cardinal called it the third book—after Lee’s last two novels—“in what will form a diaspora quartet.”01/14/2026
Jamie Raab to Step Down at Macmillan
Raab, who first joined the publisher in 2017 to cofound Celadon Books, will step away from her position as Macmillan’s publisher-at-large. She had transitioned into the role in 2022, after stepping down as president of Celadon.01/14/2026
Klopotek Makes Two C-Suite Appointments
The international publishing software provider has named Felix Temming (pictured) as CEO and Holger Reinhardt as the company's new CTO.01/13/2026
Danny Yanez Takes the Helm at Franklin Siegal & Yanez
As first announced last summer, Yanez has officially taken over as president and sole proprietor of the scouting agency following the retirement of Todd R. Siegal.01/12/2026
Craig Petersen Named CEO of Lulu Press
Petersen succeeds Kathy Hensgen as CEO of the self-publishing platform, whose technology-driven print and fulfillment platform supports enterprise, ecommerce, and direct-to-consumer use cases at scale.01/12/2026
Binc Adds New Board Members
HarperCollins senior sales director Susan Yeager (l.) and former Borders staffer Meghan Holmes have both joined the Book Industry Charitable Foundation’s board of directors.01/12/2026
Robert Casper Tapped to Lead Academy of American Poets
The organization has appointed Casper as president and executive director, effective January 26. Most recently, he served as head of poetry and literature in the Literary Initiatives Office at the Library of Congress.01/09/2026
Distribution Deals for the Week of January 5, 2026
IPG signs on two graphic novel publishers, and Lunar Distribution has inked a nationwide agreement with Warrant Publishing.01/09/2026
RBmedia’s Audiobook Offerings Reach Milestone
RBmedia, one of the world’s largest audiobook publishers, announced this week that its catalog has surpassed 100,000 titles across 13 brands.01/07/2026
James Patterson Signs with UTA
United Talent Agency has signed Patterson as a client for literary representation worldwide, the agency announced. He was previously represented by Robert Barnett, who died in September.01/07/2026
Book Aid International Tallies 2025 Donations
The U.K.-based nonprofit said it provided more than 850,000 new books to 160 NGO and library partners in 22 countries last year.01/07/2026
Library Applicants Sought for Pulitzer Exhibition
The ALA Public Programs Office and the Pulitzer Prizes invite public libraries, including tribal and state libraries, to apply as hosts of the traveling exhibit “Pulitzer on the Road.”01/05/2026
Kim Dayman to Head Up Little, Brown Backlist
Dayman, who has previously held senior marketing positions at Random House and HarperCollins, has joined Little, Brown and Company as director of backlist. She was most recently executive director of marketing and publicity at Schiffer Publishing.01/05/2026
Jeffrey Mathews to Head Scholastic Education
Mathews has been appointed president of the division, while also retaining his current roles as EVP and chief growth officer of Scholastic. He has served as interim head of Scholastic Education since June 2025.01/05/2026
Crossed Hearts Launches Girls’ Love–Focused Imprint
The new publisher’s Glam Beat! imprint will publish English-language girls’ love manga, webcomics, and light novels in both digital and print formats.01/05/2026
Andrew Albanese Named Editor-in-Chief of ‘Publishing Perspectives’
The former PW editor, who stepped down at the end of 2024, will helm the international publishing newsletter, starting today. He succeeds Porter Anderson, who died late last year.News Brief Archive
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