For decades, I sat in meetings with all-white teams. The industry needs an independent body to advise on equalityI’m a literary agent and at the height of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests I was sent a list, with accompanying photographs, of the top editors working across the major publishing houses in the UK. When I read it I burst into tears. It showed a sea of almost totally white faces, some of whom had been approaching retirement when I started out as an editorial assistant 20 years earlier. The stagnation in the industry was stark and filled me with despair.Analysis of the industry since then, partly led by pressure from BLM and an open letter from the Black Writers Guild, has only further highlighted this imbalance. Two of the biggest global publishers, Penguin Random House and Hachette, revealed that just 2.7% of their staff – in both cases – are black; and the Guardian reported that you are eight times more likely to see an animal as lead character in a children’s book than a person of colour.Natalie Jerome is a literary agent, deputy chair of Literature Wales, and a former publisher Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-01-01 10:00:46 UTC ]
“As a graphic designer, we can play a role in standing up for something.” During the protests for racial justice this past summer and over the past few years, Black Lives Matter became a movement and rallying cry, a message of optimism and hope, and a simple statement of affirmation: the lives... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2021-01-19 08:00:06 UTC ]
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Nick Walters at David Luxton Associates has been promoted to senior literary agent and rights manager in recognition of his "outstanding contribution" to the agency over the years. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-18 12:55:15 UTC ]
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In an open letter, more than 250 authors, agents, booksellers, and publishers urged publishers not to sign book deals with members of the Trump Administration or anyone "who incited, suborned, instigated, or otherwise supported the January 6, 2021, coup attempt." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Patrick Nolan has been promoted to publisher of Penguin Books, among several other role changes at Penguin Random House imprint Viking Penguin. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has named David Drake, Scott Shannon, Kara Welsh, and Chris Jackson to new roles with expanded responsibilities, among others. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Usborne author PG Bell, creator of the children’s book series The Train to Impossible Places, has partnered with the National Literacy Trust and The Postal Museum on a letter writing project inviting children to share their experiences of the pandemic with future generations. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-13 22:56:51 UTC ]
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Some pleasant news! In honor of “Peace Train”s 50th anniversary, Yusuf/Cat Stevens has announced that the illustrated children’s book Peace Train, using the lyrics of the famous song, will be published May 11th via HarperCollins. It will be followed by a picture book adaptation of Stevens’ song... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-13 17:36:37 UTC ]
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We've got books for the Read Harder task asking you to read a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-13 11:32:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic UK has acquired Escape the Rooms, the "dazzling" children’s book debut from actor Stephen Mangan, illustrated by his sister Anita Mangan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-13 03:30:19 UTC ]
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In an open letter published on the company's website, PRH UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has expressed confidence in the industry's prospects on entering a third lockdown, and revealed Penguin Random House UK is donating a further 15,000 more books to communities most affected by the coronavirus... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-12 10:23:48 UTC ]
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"It's really special that, with a book about female friendship, we have genuinely become friends through doing it,” says Lauren Ace. She is talking about illustrator Jenny Løvlie, and the pair’s début picture book The Girls, which was published in 2018 and went on to win Illustrated Book of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-08 01:57:49 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Children’s Books has scooped Lies Like Wildfire, the “compulsive and explosive” debut YA novel from Jennifer Lynn Alvarez. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-07 03:46:12 UTC ]
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LESLIE BRODY’S new biography, Sometimes You Have to Lie, describes the life of Louise Fitzhugh, author of the classic children’s book Harriet the Spy. Originally published in 1964 by Harper and Row, Harriet has never been out of print and has inspired multiple adaptations and spin-offs,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-01-02 13:30:00 UTC ]
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Feature image from Akiko Miyakoshi’s I Dream a Journey * I knew things were going to get hard when the library closed. I am, by profession, a writer and a professor of storytelling. I’ve read to my twin children—now four—since their infancy. But as avid readers as we already were, 2020 upped our... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-21 09:49:02 UTC ]
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Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau are starting their own publishing company, after seeing their eponymous imprint shuttered by Penguin Random House in a reorganization at the company late last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Canada is splitting the Knopf Random House Canada publishing group into two different imprints: Knopf Canada and Random House Canada. Each imprint has new leadership and will operate independently. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The planned merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster may be global but it's bad for books both foreign and domestic. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-12-04 19:25:12 UTC ]
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Malorie Blackman is completing her Noughts & Crosses YA series with the sixth and final novel, Endgame, publishing with Penguin Random House Children’s UK in summer 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-02 18:32:59 UTC ]
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Nobody has a human right to a lucrative book contract without regard for whether their opinions are sound or valuableJordan Peterson, the Canadian psychology professor and lobster-loving life coach who came to public attention after refusing to use the preferred pronouns of transgender people,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-02 13:56:38 UTC ]
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It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . that Northanger Abbey is less quotable than Pride and Prejudice. Nevertheless, Northanger Abbey is the latest of Austen’s six novels to be adapted into an illustrated children’s book for the Awesomely Austen: Illustrated and Retold series. The text of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-01 17:54:13 UTC ]
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