In Case You Missed It…PT Picks: The Visitors by Simon Sylvester

PT Picks: The Visitors by Simon Sylvester (Melville House, 2015)

From Samantha:TheVisitors_mech_fin.indd

I really enjoy reading mysteries, and I really enjoy reading books with a supernatural or mystical element. The twain do not often meet, but they did in The Visitors by Simon Sylvester. This book combines the two effortlessly, making for a great beginning-of-fall read. This debut novel was originally published in the UK by Quercus in 2014 and then brought to the U.S. last December by Melville House.

What makes the book so enjoyable is Sylvester’s skill at bringing the dark moodiness of the small Scottish island of Bancree to life while deftly mixing in selkie folktales. And the main character, teenage Flora, shows her anger and desires in a way that’s familiar without being grating to the book’s intended adult audience. This book takes a step away from the predictable with great success.

Synopsis:

Flora’s preparing for her last year at high school after her boyfriend has left for college. She knows she will be lonely, and buries herself in a school project about selkies, until she meets her new neighbors, Ailsa and her father. The newcomers seem a little mysterious to the townspeople, but not enough to distract the townsfolk from the ever-increasing number of men gone missing from their island.

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 9/12-9/16

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

For comic book fans, print is still king.

Do we need to save the bookstore?

How did Kickstarter become a major force in publishing?

Digitization may not be the threat to publishing that it was once thought to be.

We’re all busy, so why should we read?

People Round-Up, Mid-September 2016

PEOPLE

As reported earlier, Ronald Boire is leaving his position as CEO of Barnes & Noble. Owner and founder Len Riggio will re-assume CEO functions until a successor is named.

At Bloomsbury US, Cindy Loh has been promoted to the newly-created role of VP and Publishing Director of Consumer Publishing.

Dr. Adam Black will join Macmillan Learning as Chief Learning Officer; he previously led higher-education science, global digital innovation, technology for language learning and, most recently, efficacy and research at Pearson.  At Macmillan Children’s, Kristin Dulaney has joined as Executive Director of Subsidiary Rights. She was previously Director of Subsidiary Rights at Little, Brown Children’s.

Jackie Cantor is joining Gallery Books as Senior Editor; she was previously Executive Editor at Berkley. Abby Zidle will join as Associate Director of Marketing. She is currently Senior Editor at Pocket.

Jessica Schmidt will join Running Press as Director of Marketing and Publicity in mid-September; she was previously Director of Sales and Subsidiary Rights at The Story Plant and at Perseus Distribution before that.

At Chronicle Books, Kristin Norell joined as International Sales Director; she was previously VP of International Sales at World Book. Camille Geeter will join as Marketing Assistant on September 12; she previously worked as an Intern at HarperOne. Janine Sato joined as Junior Production Designer; she was most recently Product Designer at Apple. Morgan Amer will join as Trade Sales Coordinator on September 13; she was previously Assistant Manager at Ryland Peters & Small.

Susan Ruszala resigned from her position as President of NetGalley after 10 years with the company and may be reached at sruszala@gmail.com.  Fran Toolan, CEO, has taken over daily operations indefinitely.

Jennifer Romanello, current VP and Director of Publicity at Simon & Schuster Children’s, will leave and join Emi Battaglia Public Relations in October where she will work as Partner.

At agencies… Peter Knapp rejoined Park Literary Group as Agent for middle grade and young adult fiction; he was previously Agent at New Leaf Literary & MediaCathryn Summerhayes joined Curtis Brown UK, after most recently working as an agent at William Morris EndeavorAbby Saul left Browne & Miller to launch The Lark Group, a literary agency specializing in adult commercial and literary fiction.  Shana Kelly joined Einstein Literary Management as Agent, after previously working from home as a freelance editor and publishing consultant. Kimberly Brower left the Rebecca Friedman Literary Agency to start her own literary agency, Brower Literary & Management. She is joined by associate agents Jess Dallow and Aimee Ashcraft. Victoria Marini joined the Irene Goodman Literary Agency as Literary Agent with a focus on middle grade, YA, and adult fiction; she previously was an agent at Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc. / ICM Partners. At Stonesong, Melissa Edwards has joined as a Literary Agent with a focus on children’s and adult fiction and pop culture nonfiction; she previously was an agent and foreign rights manager at the Aaron Priest Literary Agency.

At Viking UK, Eleo Gordon retired from his job as Editorial Director after working for approximately 50 years at the company.

Julianne Conlon joined Random House Children’s digital marketing team as Associate Manager; she was previously Social Media Specialist at Dealer.com.

At Canongate, Simon Thorogood joined as Editorial Director; he previously worked as Publisher for non-fiction at HeadlineHannah Knowles will join as Senior Commissioning Editor in November. She is currently Commissioning Editor at Octopus.

Maris Kreizman joined the Book-of-the-Month Club as Editorial Director. Most recently, she was Publishing Outreach Lead at Kickstarter.

Emma Dries joined Ecco as Assistant Editor; she was previously Editorial Assistant at Knopf Doubleday.

Ben Platt is to join Public Books as Global Coordinating Editor; he was previously Editor at Basic Books.

Victory Matsui joined One World as Editor, after previously working freelance.

At Sourcebooks, Stefani Sloma was hired as Assistant Publicist; she was formerly the YA Librarian at Pearl Public Library in Mississippi.  Stephany Daniel joined as Publicist; she was most recently Publicity and Marketing Coordinator at Shambhala Publications.  Also, Sabrina Hill joins as Project Editor, after previously working as Project Manager at Corporate Translations, Inc.

Tara Sonin joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s as Digital Marketing & Publicity Specialist; she was previously Marketing Manager at Paper Lantern Lit.

Michael Spradlin joined Midwest Tape as Marketing Director; he was previously Director of Sales & Marketing at Albert Whitman.

At Abrams, Jennifer Bastien joined as Publicist; she was previously Associate Publicist at DK. Kira Egan joined as Trade Sales Representative after working as Assistant Manager and Sidelines Buyer at Bank Street Books.

Janelle DeLuise will join Little, Brown Children’s as Rights Director; she previously worked as Associate Director of International Rights at Scholastic.

Chelsea Morgan and Kerry Johnson joined Simon & Schuster Children’s as Production Editors.  Morgan was most recently Assistant Production Manager at Macmillan, and Johnson was previously a freelance production editor.

Matt Wise joined Adaptive Studios as VP of Publishing and Literary Development; he was most recently Director of Publishing for Blumhouse Books.

At Choice, the reviews publication from the Association of College and Research Libraries, Melissa Ceraso joins as Editor in mathematics and natural sciences; she was most recently the Evergreen Systems Manager at Bibliomation, IncJason Simon, previously the Technology and Serials Librarian at Fitchburg State University, is now Senior Web Developer.

At the University of Chicago Press, Joe D’Onofrio joined as Director of the Distribution Center. He most recently worked as Director of Supply Chain for Henry Schein.

Allison Adler joined Andrews McMeel as editor; she previously worked freelance and as an editor at Henry Holt.

At Northwestern University Press, Mike Levine left his position as acquisitions editor, held since 2007, to work as an independent provider of editorial services. Read More »

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 9/5-9/9

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Bowker released a report on self-publishing statistics for 2015.

Bloomberg takes a deeper look into the theory that print is on the rise.

What are the real economics behind publishing?

How can data make publishing better for publishers and readers alike?

Are young adult novels for everyone?

Publishing Trends Annual Contact Sheet 2016

The 2016 general US publishing industry contact sheet is our most popular annual feature, listing publishers large and small, accounts, trade associations, and more. Taking into account mergers, acquisitions, and new additions, we are proud to offer our most comprehensive updated version as a free PDF. Click the image below to download the Publishing Trends Annual Contact Sheet 2016.

Annual Contact Sheet 2016

International Bestsellers, August 2016

Every month, Publishing Trends runs fiction international bestsellers lists from four territories–France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This month, our four regular territories are joined by two more: Norway and Turkey. Those books that have been published in English are listed with their official English-language title. All others are translated as literally as possible from the original. Where applicable, the US publisher is listed after the local publisher, separated by a “/”. The lists are taken from major newspapers or national retailers, which are noted at the bottom of each list.

BestsellerAug2016France

BestsellerAug2016Germany

BestsellerAug2016Italy

BestsellerAug2016Spain

BestsellerAug2016Norway

BestsellerAug2016Turkey

 

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 8/22-8/26

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

What challenges does Barnes & Noble face now?

Is young adult literature ultimately good for young adults?

Why is it important to properly credit a book’s illustrator?

Does the manner in which we read change how we interpret the content?

What lies ahead for educational publishing?

Keeping the Faith: Publisher Agnostic Content

Be it tweets, blog posts, or marketing materials, content produced by book publishers is traditionally about the books they publish. But that’s not always the case. Some publishers are hosting blogs with “publisher agnostic” content, meaning the site will feature books and authors they don’t publish. In fact, some of these websites all but obscure the fact that they’re hosted by a major publisher, which raises a question: why? Why promote books and authors they don’t publish? And why are publishers keeping their name off of the content they’re publishing online?  Each of the three people interviewed said, “A rising tide lifts all boats,” a comforting and fitting aphorism that answers a question that they must be asked often.

Before looking at today’s digital landscape of publishers sharing books they don’t publish, let’s go back to 1984 when a Random House sales rep, Carl Lennertz, wrote what he called “The Random Report. It was a newsletter that went out to bookstores promoting Random House’s forthcoming titles and whatever promising titles were coming from the competition, as well as a few personal notes. Highlighting books from publishers other than Random House made him a favorite among independent bookstores,  —  and, of course, the publishers whose books he promoted.tor dor com

Lennertz, now the Executive Director of The Children’s Book Circle, took his newsletter online after the advent of digital; soon after he went on to start what is now IndieBound. Perhaps the first publisher to talk up books that weren’t their own online was Tor, which launched Tor.com in 2008. The site’s Associate Publisher, Irene Gallo, describes it as a three-pronged operation: a daily blog about all things science fiction and fantasy-related, a community of readers, and a publisher. The key here is that they cover all things science fiction- and fantasy-related, not just related to or about books published by Tor or Tor.com.

Tor.com isn’t alone. Penguin Random House has a group of sites that publishes content not exclusively about their own books, including Suvudu, also a sci-fi and fantasy site; Signature, which is focused on current events and the news; and Hazlitt, a site simply focused on “the best stories.”

And then there is a publisher-hosted site that falls somewhere in the middle: Epic Reads.  Epic Reads is an online community and website for YA fans. Though it’s not immediately obvious, this is a HarperCollins site, which readers can discern from a HarperCollins copyright down at the bottom of the webpage. The only books sold on their site are published by HarperCollins, but all of the site’s original content is publisher agnostic. Read More »

Top 5 Publishing Articles/Blog Posts of the Week 8/15-8/19

number_5_redEvery week, we recommend 5 publishing articles/blog posts that supplement the major news for the week. Whether data or industry commentary, we hope these 5 links will be a simple way to keep you in the know.

Could technology be killing reading?

Used bookstores are making a comeback.

How many people see ads for books online?

The Book Industry Environmental Council released its latest report on sustainability efforts in publishing.

Indigenous story anthologies pose unique typographical challenges.