Short news items from the world of book publishing:
08/01/2025
DC Comics Veteran Joseph Illidge Launches Illuminous
The graphic novelist and former Batman editor has launched his own production and creative services company, which will develop projects for film, TV, animation, and print.07/31/2025
S&S to Publish Campaign Memoir by Kamala Harris
Jonathan Karp at Simon & Schuster preempted world, audio, and first serial rights to the former vice president’s memoir about her 2024 presidential campaign, 107 Days, from CAA. The book is slated for September 23.07/31/2025
Academy of American Poets Announces 2025 Poet Laureate Fellows
The Academy will award $50,000 fellowships to 23 poets laureate across the U.S., while also providing more than $95,000 in matching grants to 21 local nonprofits collaborating with the 2025 fellows on their work.07/31/2025
Crown Acquires Memoir by John Fetterman
Matt Inman at Crown netted North American rights to the Pennsylvania senator’s memoir, Unfettered, from Eric Simonoff at WME. The book is slated for November 11.07/30/2025
European Publishers Say the EU is Giving In to AI
The Federation of European Publishers is among a coalition of organizations that filed a formal complaint accusing the European Commission of having “sold out” the creative industries to AI companies.07/30/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of July 28, 2025
IPG inks deals with four new publishers, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services inks agreements with Todo Press and Rocndog Books, and more.07/29/2025
Binc Awards 2025 Scholarships for Bookseller Development
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation has announced 11 recipients of two scholarships aimed at supporting professional development and diversity in bookselling.07/28/2025
Cristina Cushing to Head Sourcebooks Sales Strategy
Cushing has joined Sourcebooks from Macmillan, where she was associate director of sales, in the newly created role of director of sales strategy.07/28/2025
Authors Guild Scores Victory in NEH Grant Lawsuit
A New York federal court sided with the Authors Guild in a class action lawsuit filed this May, ruling that the termination of 1,400 grants to scholars and authors by the National Endowment for the Humanities and DOGE was likely unlawful.07/25/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of July 21, 2025
Simon & Schuster has struck a deal with Histria Books, and the Jewish Publication Society teams up with the Hebrew University Magnes Press.07/25/2025
Random House Acquires New George Saunders Novel
Andy Ward at Random House took world rights to the Booker Prize winner’s Vigil from Esther Newberg at CAA. Publication is set for January 27, 2026.07/24/2025
Lauren Ciborski Joins ABA as CFO
Ciborski joins the American Book Association from the Threefold Educational Foundation, where she served as controller for nearly six years.07/24/2025
McGraw Hill’s IPO Fails to Meet Expectations
Shares of McGraw Hill began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today at $17 per share. In its prospectus announcing plans to go public filed July 14, the company had hoped the initial price would be between $19 and $22 per share.07/23/2025
BISG to Offer Introductory Webinar on July 29
The Book Industry Study Group’s new 30-minute webinar will explain how to navigate BISAC subject codes, register for events, access the organization’s Knowledge Center, and more.07/23/2025
WHSmith Snags Large Footprint at JFK Airport
In keeping with its rebrand as the “global travel retailer,” WHSmith North America has claimed 8,400-sq.-ft. of retail space in JFK Airport’s new Terminal 1 in New York.07/23/2025
Marlon James Wins Brooklyn Book Festival’s 2025 BoBi Award
James will be presented with this year’s Best in Brooklyn Award, which celebrates an author whose work “best exemplifies or speaks to the spirit of Brooklyn,” during the 20th annual Brooklyn Book Festival this September.07/23/2025
Amanda Gnecco Named CFO at Alliance
Alliance Entertainment has named Amanda Gnecco chief financial officer. Gnecco has been at Alliance for seven years, and was promoted from chief accounting officer, a role she had held since May 2024.07/23/2025
Kate Zwaard Named Executive Director of CNI
Zwaard joins the Coalition for Networked Information after nearly 15 years with the Library of Congress. She will succeed Clifford Lynch, who died earlier this year.07/22/2025
NYU Opens Registration for Advanced Publishing Institute
New York University’s third annual Advanced Publishing Institute will be held January 5–9, featuring speakers such as Macmillan CEO Jonathan Yaged and Storytel CCO Helena Gustafsson.07/21/2025
BISG Launches AI Survey
A new survey from the Book Industry Study Group aims to better understand how AI is currently being used across the North American book publishing supply chain. Results will be shared in September.07/18/2025
James Tynion IV Book Bundles Benefit Binc
Tiny Onion and Humble Bundle have curated a bundle with 41 titles by the Eisner-winning creator, in collaboration with DC, Boom!, Image, Dark Horse, and Dstlry, to raise funds for Binc.07/17/2025
Comics Stores Drive Graphic Novel Sale Growth
Sales of comics and graphic novels in the U.S. and Canada were around $1.94 billion in 2024, up 4% from $1.87 billion in 2023. The trend is almost entirely driven by sales growth in comic stores, according to a new estimate by ICv2.07/17/2025
Scholastic Appoints Two New Board Members
Former PRH CFO Milena Alberti (l.) and financial services executive Anne Clarke Wolff have been appointed to Scholastic’s board of directors following the retirement of members John L. Davies and David J. Young.07/17/2025
Mass. Coalition Speaks Up for Right to Read
As Massachusetts considers four new Freedom to Read bills, authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, publishers and educators of the newly launched Mass Freedom to Read Coalition will testify at the State House in Boston on July 22.07/17/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of July 14, 2025
Simon & Schuster has struck deals with Dynamite and Penzler, IPG has added five new publishers to its sales and distribution programs, and more.07/16/2025
Lakeside Installs New Printing Press
Lakeside Book Company’s new, 64-page, four-color offset, wide-web press has been installed at its facility in Willard, Ohio, and includes inline control systems with self-correcting features. Lakeside purchased the press in 2024, creating 100 new jobs.07/16/2025
AALA to Hire Inaugural Executive Director
The trade association for American literary agents is looking for a director to take the helm of its operations, including the new People of Publishing conference. AALA president Regina Brooks said the organization hopes to make a hire by early fall.07/15/2025
S&S to Publish Siri Hustvedt’s Memoir of Life with Paul Auster
Carina Guiterman at Simon & Schuster acquired North American rights to Hustvedt’s Ghost Stories from Amanda Urban at CAA. The memoir chronicles her “43-year love story” with Auster, who died of cancer in 2024.07/15/2025
Kids Ink to Change Hands After Nearly 40 Years
Shirley Mullin, the founding owner of Indianapolis children’s bookstore Kids Ink, has retired and sold the store to mother-daughter duo Wendy (r.) and Kaitlyn Fitzgerald.07/14/2025
Wattpad Webtoon Studios Rebrands, Names David Madden President
Wattpad Webtoon Studios announced July 10 it will rebrand as Webtoon Productions. David Madden (pictured) will helm the studio as president, with Maximilian Jo as VP, head of strategy for the global IP business.07/11/2025
Random House Nabs George Harrison Photo Book
Andy Ward at Random House acquired world English rights to The Third Eye, a book of George Harrison’s personal photography, from agent David Rosenthal, for a fall 2026 release. The Beatles guitarist’s widow, Olivia Harrison (pictured), will edit.07/10/2025
Massive Launches Program Supporting New Series
The Massive Pilot program will support comic book creators launch new series by combining the power of crowdfunding with Massive’s publishing infrastructure.07/09/2025
USPS Taps Chris Ware for Anniversary Stamps
The acclaimed cartoonist and graphic novelist has designed a special pane of 20 commemorative stamps for the 250th anniversary of the United States Postal Service, slated to release on July 23.07/09/2025
Valerie Pierce to Head Sourcebooks’ Indie Sales Team as VP
In her new role as VP of independent sales and retail marketing, Pierce will lead the publisher’s in-house sales team dedicated to indie bookstores.07/09/2025
Inaugural Black Book Bash Heads to Florida
The first-ever Black Book Bash, an all-Black literary festival, will take place October 3-5 in Jacksonville and feature such authors as Clarence A. Haynes, Wanda M. Morris, and justin a. reynolds.07/09/2025
Greenleaf and Kiplinger Launch Personal Finance Imprint
Greenleaf Book Group will team with personal finance site Kiplinger to bring its wealth management advice to print with Kiplinger Books, a hybrid publisher that plans to release 25-30 books per year.07/08/2025
Mellon Foundation Appoints Carla Hayden as Senior Fellow
The former Librarian of Congress, who was dismissed by the White House in May, will pursue scholarship, writing, and research projects while also serving as a strategic partner and counsel at the nation’s largest philanthropic supporter of the arts.07/08/2025
Random House Teams with Webtoon on Publishing Program
The Random House comics imprints Inklore and Ink Pop announced at Anime Expo this past weekend that they will partner with Webtoon to bring 14 of its most popular webcomics to print over the next five years.07/08/2025
Deep Vellum Partners with Johns Hopkins University
The Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins will support the Dallas-based publisher to publish and promote one work of literary translation annually with a sustaining grant, translator residency, and public events.07/08/2025
Amberley Acquires Ryland Peters & Small
In the U.K., Amberley Publishing has acquired Ryland Peters & Small, an independent publisher focused on illustrated nonfiction titles across lifestyle categories.07/08/2025
Danny Yanez to Succeed Todd R. Siegal at Franklin & Siegal Associates
Siegal (l.) will retire at the end of 2025 after 39 years of scouting, and Yanez will take over as president and sole proprietor of the agency, which will be renamed Franklin Siegal & Yanez in the new year.07/07/2025
Southern Festival of Books to Return
After months of uncertainty following federal funding cuts, Humanities Tennessee has announced that its annual festival will return for its 37th year this October, in partnership with Vanderbilt University.07/03/2025
The Top 10 Bestselling Books of 2025 (So Far)
Onyx Storm was the biggest bestseller in the first six months of 2025 as the standard and deluxe editions of the newest book by Rebecca Yarros combined to sell more than 2 million copies.07/02/2025
TJ Kelleher to Depart Basic Books
The VP and editorial director will step down in August after 16 years at the Hachette Book Group imprint. Basic Books Group publisher Lara Heimert said Kelleher had “decided to leave publishing and embrace a new life as a gentleman farmer.”07/01/2025
Galiot Sets Sail for Inaugural Season
Galiot Press, a Mass.-based indie publisher founded by Henriette Lazaridis and Anjali Mitter Duva last year, has announced its first four fiction titles to be released starting this October.07/01/2025
Lauren Wein Promoted to EIC at Avid Reader
The Simon & Schuster imprint’s longtime VP and editorial director has been promoted to VP and editor-in-chief. Wein has been with Avid Reader since its founding six years ago.06/30/2025
Dzanc Teams with PalmArtPress
The U.S. arm of Berlin-based indie publisher PalmArtPress will become an imprint of Dzanc Books. Dzanc will also distribute the press, previously distributed by the now-shuttered Small Press Distribution, to the U.S. market.06/27/2025
Crown to Publish McConaughey’s Latest Title
Gillian Blake and Matthew Inman picked up North American rights to Matthew McConaughey’s latest book, Poems & Prayers, from Matthew Elblonk at DeFiore and Company. Publication is slated for September 16.06/26/2025
Trio of Publishers Reteam on Poetry in Translation Prize
The new prize will include a $5,000 advance and a simultaneous book deal with New Directions, the U.K.’s Fitzcarraldo, and Australia’s Giramondo. The program will run alongside the three publishers’ other joint award, the biennial Novel Prize.06/26/2025
Oxbelly Announces 2025 Fiction Fellows
The Oxbelly Fiction Writers program has selected 10 emerging writers to attend its 10th annual retreat, slated for June 28–July 6 in Messinia, Greece. Featured guests and advisors include Katie Kitamura and Namwali Serpell.News Brief Archive
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