Short news items from the world of book publishing:
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.01/05/2026
New Judge to Preside Over Anthropic Copyright Suit
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will take over for Judge William Alsup, who has retired, in the class action lawsuit against the AI firm. Judge Martínez-Olguín previously presided over a similar suit against OpenAI.12/22/2025
Binc Announces End-of-Year Fundraiser
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation announced Friday that it is kickstarting an end-of-the-year campaign to raise $50,000 by doubling any donation up to a total of $6,000 through December 31.12/19/2025
Carnegie Corporation Grant Supports Libraries in Need
The philanthropic foundation has announced 57 grants totaling more than $38.4 million, including a $2 million grant to the Association of Rural and Small Libraries. ARSL executive director Kate Laughlin called the pledge “transformative.”12/19/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of December 15, 2025
Ingram has inked a deal with Archetype Publications, and C&T has announced a new partnership with Leisure Arts.12/18/2025
Dinaw Mengestu Named PEN America President
The novelist joins the free speech organization for a two-year term, following his election by membership at PEN America’s annual general meeting held earlier this week. He succeeds author Jennifer Finney Boylan.12/18/2025
RBmedia, Norton Ink Exclusive Audiobook Publishing Parntership
The deal “deepens the longstanding relationship” between the audiobook publisher and W.W. Norton, per an announcement.12/16/2025
NEA Announces ‘American Heroes’ Grants
The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded 50 grants of $25,000 each for arts projects celebrating a list of national heroes named by President Donald Trump, in honor of the country’s semiquincentennial next year.12/15/2025
Audible Highlights Trending BookTok Titles
The audiobook platform has teamed with TikTok to help listeners discover trending titles on the app through curated lists.12/12/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of December 8, 2025
Publishers Group West signs two new publishers, and Simon & Schuster inks a deal with Ablaze Publishing.12/10/2025
Kindle to Offer Downloads for DRM-Free Titles
Starting next month, new books in the Amazon Kindle store published without digital rights management will be available for readers to download in EPUB or PDF format.12/10/2025
Liveright Launches ‘Wings’ Auction for Indies
The publisher will auction off 175 signed, deluxe editions of Paul McCartney’s oral history of the Beatles in support of independent bookstores around the country.12/09/2025
HBG Invests $200K in Raising Readers Campaign
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of parent company Hachette Livre, Hachette Book Group will fund curated classroom libraries in 200 underfunded schools and education programs, 200 Little Free Libraries, and 200 author programs.12/09/2025
Union Square Nets Grainger’s British Sleuth Series
Emily Meehan and Claire Wachtel at Union Square & Co. preempted North American rights for Peter Grainger’s previously self-published DC Smith/Kings Lake Investigation series from Emma Parry at Janklow & Nesbit Associates.12/05/2025
Two Lines Press Expands Distribution to the U.K., Europe
The independent publisher of literature in translation has partnered with Turnaround Publishing Services to distribute 40 backlist titles as well as new releases overseas.12/05/2025
Dianne Moggy to Retire from Harlequin
The romance veteran will step down from her role as VP of editorial on December 31 after more than 40 years at the publisher. Bryony Green has been promoted to publishing director and will lead Harlequin’s romance program following Moggy’s departure.12/05/2025
Sophie Kossakowski to Head HBG’s Int’l Sales, Marketing
Kossakowski joins Hachette Book Group from Sourcebooks, where she served on the international sales team and spearheaded strategy for such territories as Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. Prior to that, she held roles at HarperCollins.12/05/2025
Distribution Deals for the Week of December 1, 2025
S&S has inked a deal with Humanitas Media, and IPG will distribute for Crown House Publishing.12/04/2025
ALA Names Mychal Threets Honorary Ambassador for National Library Week 2026
From April 19–25, the ‘Reading Rainbow’ host and PBS Kids resident librarian will preside over National Library Week, celebrating the theme ‘Find Your Joy’12/03/2025
‘Christianity Today’ Announces Book Award Winners
The Christian magazine has selected The Reason for Church by Brad Edwards as its 2025 Book of the Year, while Robert S. Smith’s The Body God Gives received this year’s Award of Merit.12/03/2025
Jennifer Bergstrom Promoted to EVP of S&S
In addition to her new role, Bergstrom will continue leading the Gallery Publishing Group. She originally joined the publisher in 1998 as editorial director of Simon Spotlight, later transitioning over to the adult division in 2004.12/02/2025
P.S. Literary Launches Writers Scholarship
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the agency has launched its Emerging Writers Scholarship, which offers $1,000 and one-on-one mentorship to support unpublished and underrepresented writers. The inaugural recipient will be named next summer.12/02/2025
Andrea Brown Alums Launch Boutique Agency
Jemiscoe Chambers-Black (bottom), Paige Terlip (top), and Jennifer March Soloway have founded Starling Literary + Media, dedicated to both children’s and adult authors and illustrators. The trio previously worked at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.12/02/2025
Haymarket Launches Book Not Bars Fundraiser
As part of its annual effort to send free books to incarcerated readers, the Chicago-based progressive publisher aims to raise $20,000 to cover the production and shipping costs of 2,000 titles from its catalog.12/02/2025
Elianna Kan to Join MMQA as Literary Agent
Kan comes to the literary agency from Regal Hoffman & Associates, which she initially joined to build a Spanish-language literary list. At Massie McQuilkin & Altman, she will focus on “voice-driven literary fiction and select nonfiction.”12/01/2025
P&W to Offer Literary Event Grants
Poets & Writers’ mini-grants will provide organizers with funds to pay writers who give readings, conduct writing workshops, or host literary events in New York from January 1–March 31, 2026. Applications for the grants are open through December 8.12/01/2025
Poetry Foundation to Discontinue Programs
The foundation has announced that it will phase out programming in 2026, instead redirecting resources to “support the broader poetry ecosystem” and “strengthen the field of poetry through philanthropy,” per a statement.12/01/2025
PublisHer, Shimmr Partner on AI Training
The advocacy organization for women in publishing, led by Bodour Al Qasimi, has teamed with the U.K.-based AI advertising platform to offer AI education to women-led publishing businesses around the world.11/26/2025
Coalition Protests Tennessee’s Directive to Public Libraries
Literary organizations, publishers, libraries, and right to read advocates have cosigned a letter of concern to Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, who recently directed 211 public libraries to review their youth materials for “age-appropriateness.”News Brief Archive
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