Michael Cader

Michael Pietsch will retire from his role as CEO of Hachette Book Group and take on a new role as chairman, effective January 1, it was announced Tuesday. Pietsch will hold that new role for one year. Hachette UK CEO David Shelley becomes CEO for both Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK, part of a “new English language management structure” for HBG “to develop the longstanding excellent collaboration” between the US and UK companies. Richard Kitson will take the role of Deputy CEO of both HBG and HUK. Shelley will report to Hachette Livre’s Deputy CEO Stéphanie Ferran and chair […]

Finalist for the NBA fiction award for TEMPLE FOLK Aaliyah Bilal indicated to the NYT “that a number of finalists planned to take the stage at the end of the [awards] ceremony” on Wednesday night “as one person read the statement. In framing the call for a cease-fire, she said, she and other writers wanted to demonstrate their sensitivity to losses on all sides.” Bilal says: “It was very important, as we were constructing it, that we were clear that we are sensitive to all of the antisemitism going on in this moment. We don’t want to contribute to inflaming that.” […]

Despite the issues over misprints, Rebecca Yarros’s much-anticipated IRON FLAME sold approximately 585,000 hardcovers in its first week on sale at outlets tracked by Circana Bookscan. A new-release limited “special edition” of her earlier book, FOURTH WING, sold approximately 271,000 hardcovers, giving Yarros the top two positions on Bookscan’s charts. Meanwhile, as usual be wary of simplistic proclamations about the marketplace. Yarros lifted print sales for the week ending November 11 to 4 percent above the same week last year — and measured print sales have been ahead of the same weeks in 2022 for five of the last seven […]

As we have noted recently, the various AI companies (and their backers) have dutifully filed comments with the US Copyright Office explaining why they believe training their systems on copyrighted work is fair use and “just math.” So it’s notable that vice president of audio at Stability AI Ed Newton-Rex left the company recently and made clear at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit he believes those arguments are wrong. (He oversaw their music creation product, Stability Audio.) He resigned “because I don’t agree with the company’s opinion that training generative AI models on copyrighted works is ‘fair use’.” As he […]

Sourcebooks has joined with the Penguin Random House North Asia office to create Callisto China. The new line will publish a selection of Callisto’s titles in the local language. When PRH acquired Callisto’s assets in May in a Sourcebooks-led deal, Sourcebooks ceo Dominique Raccah identified international expansion as a clear growth opportunity. She says in the announcement, “Callisto has developed an extraordinary line of books which have never had exposure to an international audience. This new collaborative partnership with PRH North Asia brings Callisto to the Chinese market in a really comprehensive way.” PRH North Asia already distributes Sourcebooks and […]

Following a second promised sale (of Gala magazine to Groupe Figaro), Vivendi announced Tuesday that it has officially closed its deal for a controlling interest in Lagardere. Vivendi’s executives say in the announcement, “As we do for all our businesses, while preserving its integrity, we will support Lagardère in its development and the transformation of its businesses. Together, we will strengthen our international presence in the fields of creation, content and distribution. We are delighted to start a fruitful collaboration, bringing all our activities to new heights.” Vivendi owns 60 percent of Lagardere stock, and just over 50 percent of […]

With almost 25 lists counted so far (and likely another 25 or more to go before the end of the year), our annual aggregation of the very best of the “best books of the year” is taking shape, right on schedule. The good news is that there are a number of novels getting honors, with titles by Nana Kwame Adheu-Brenyah, R.F. Kuang and James McBride tied at the top for now, and works by Paul Murray, Ann Napolitano and Jesmyn Ward are close behind. Safiya Sinclair’s memoir has a clear lead among nonfiction titles, and the historical pattern makes it […]

If you are looking for a delightful digital stocking stuffer, we have just added a fun new option at Publishers Marketplace: Now it’s easy to give a PM Quick Pass as a gift. You can buy a Quick Pass Gift Certificate, and you’ll get an emailable gift receipt with redeemable code. Or for something weightier — a good 6.7 pounds worth — our definitive book on THE TRIAL: The DOJ’s Suit to Block Penguin Random House’s Acquisition of Simon & Schuster remains an amazing document for any publishing library. As NY Magazine noted, “It’s like the Mueller report for publishing […]

Less than three years after its founding, Sourcebooks’ Bloom Books imprint is having a banner year, on track to finish 2023 with almost $100 million in gross sales worldwide according to the company. That has to make the line among the fastest-growing new imprints ever. In outlets tracked by Circana Bookscan, Bloom Books has sold 6.4 million print units so far in 2023, rocketing up from just under 1 million units the same time a year ago. Highlights include sales of more than 1.85 million print units of books by Ana Huang this year, and over 1.5 million print units […]

Knopf Doubleday president and publisher Maya Mavjee announced to staff today that Knopf publisher Reagan Arthur and Pantheon Schocken publisher Lisa Lucas have been let go in a “restructure.” Mavjee writes, “I realize this is a lot of news to absorb, and I want to give you some context regarding our next steps. This realignment of KDPG is necessary for our future growth. Our new structure – consisting of a nimble, concentrated leadership team – will enable us to meet the trials of an ever-shifting marketplace, hone the shape and focus of our imprints, and continue to allow us to […]