Short news items from the world of book publishing:
03/02/2026
AAP Announces 2026 PROSE Award Winners
The Association of American Publishers has announced the four winners of the 50th annual PROSE Awards for Excellence, which honor scholarly works published in 2025, as well as the recipient of the Hawkins Award.02/26/2026
Harper Influence Takes ‘Conversations with My Rabbi’
Lisa Sharkey bought world rights to the book by Nikki Goldstein (l.) and the late Rabbi Eli Schlanger (r.), who died in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, from Rena Rossner at the Deborah Harris Agency. Publication is set for May.02/26/2026
Spotify Launches Audiobook Charts in U.S., U.K.
The new charts, accessible through Spotify’s Audiobook Hub, cover 11 genre categories in the U.S.—including romance, self-help, and SFF—and five in the U.K., as well as overall top audiobooks.02/25/2026
Coach Releases Bag-Charm Editions of Six PRH Titles
The fashion brand’s new Explore Your Story campaign, launched today, features wearable versions of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Sense and Sensibility, and four other Penguin Random House books.02/23/2026
PRH Launches New Acquisition Unit
To help it more effectively bring in publishers it acquires into Penguin Random House, the company has formed an “acquisition optimization and integration team,” headed up by Rachel Goldstein.02/23/2026
Queer Liberation Network to Hold Bookish Auction
From March 8–14, supporters can bet on items from authors including Roxane Gay, Khaled Hosseini, and Veronica Roth as part of the Lit for Queer Liberation auction for LGBTQ+ people facing financial hardship.02/23/2026
IMLS Promises Funding to HBCUs
The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced that it would distribute more than $1.7 million in discretionary grant funding to historically Black colleges and universities.02/23/2026
Wondery’s Marshall Lewy Joins Audible
The Amazon-owned audiobook service has appointed Lewy as head of content for North America. He previously served as chief content officer at Wondery, which Amazon Music acquired in 2020.02/20/2026
HarperVia Snags Sakamoto Memoir
HarperVia editor Alexa Frank and Jud Laghi at the Jud Laghi Agency have acquired world English/audio rights to the musicians’s memoir Music Sets You Free, trans. by Sam Bett, from Ken Mori at Tuttle-Mori Agency. Publication is slated for Sept. 22.02/20/2026
Collective Book Studio Transitions to S-Corp
Under the new corporate structure, Angela Engel, the company’s founder, will serve as CEO in addition to publisher. Elisabeth Saake will also serve as COO, while Dan Engel will continue in his role as CFO.02/20/2026
Romania To Take Star Turn at Frankfurt in 2029
The Frankfurt Book Fair announced Romania will be the guest of honor country in 2029, following Czechia this year and Chile in 2028.02/19/2026
PRH Inks Distribution Deal With Drawn & Quarterly
Under the agreement, Penguin Random House Publisher Services will sell and distribute D&Q’s frontlist and backlist exclusively across all sales channels, including the Canadian market, beginning September 1.02/19/2026
Poets & Writers Offers Grants For Literary Events
Applications are now open until March 1 for a Readings & Workshops mini-grant supporting literary events in New York state planned between April 1–June 30, 2026.02/19/2026
Barbara Kingsolver Returns to Harper With New Novel
Jonathan Burnham, president and publisher of Harper, acquired USCOM rights to the author’s Partita, a “deeply moving novel about life and art,” from Sam Stoloff of the Frances Goldin Literary Agency. Publication is slated for October 6.02/18/2026
Matt Friberg Appointed Parallax Press Publisher
Friberg succeeds Hisae Matsuda as publisher of the nonprofit Buddhist press, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary this April.02/18/2026
IMLS Relocates to Labor Department Building
The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced that it has moved into office space “configured for 46 employees” in the Frances Perkins Building, which houses the U.S. Department of Labor, in Washington, D.C.02/17/2026
S&S Bets Big on H.M. Wolfe’s Crossover Romance
As part of a seven-figure deal, Scarlett Press executive editor Sarah McCabe and Simon Maverick VP and editorial director Jason Pinter won North American rights to two novels by Wolfe (pictured) from Angie Ojeda Hazen of Lunar.02/17/2026
Verso Books Guild Secures Second Contract
The new agreement raises the publisher's salary floor, which will top $60,000 by the end of the contract period in 2028, and, notably, includes protections against the "insidious spread of AI."02/13/2026
PEN America Officially Appoints Co-CEOs
Summer Lopez (r.) and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf were initially named interim co-CEOs in November 2024, following the announcement of former CEO Suzanne Nossel’s departure. Each brings a decade of management and program experience at PEN America.02/13/2026
Random House Takes Two More from George Saunders
Andy Ward landed world rights to an untitled novel from the Booker Prize winner, as well as a nonfiction book about writing in the vein of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, from Esther Newberg at CAA. Pub dates TBA.02/13/2026
Bible Study Guide Tops January BLK Bestsellers List
Kimberly D. Moore’s The Bible in 52 Weeks (Rockridge Press) was the #1 overall seller on the Black Book Accelerator’s list of bestselling titles by Black authors in January.02/12/2026
Crown, Grand Central Snag Novels Revisiting Beloved Characters as Adults
Crown landed a new Nancy Drew series starring the sleuth as a divorced mom, by E. Lockhart (c.) and Sarah Mlynowski (r.), and Grand Central took Blair by Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar (l.), set 20 years after the original series.02/11/2026
Tiffany Babb Launches the ‘Comics Staple’
The editor’s new monthly publication, which will ship directly to subscribers, will feature “top comics picks, reviews, interviews with creators, news roundups, indie creator spotlights, local comic shop spotlights,” and more, per an announcement.02/10/2026
Angelou Heirs Join Utah Book Removal Suit
Caged Bird Legacy, the LLC that manages the late Maya Angelou’s oeuvre, has joined Kurt Vonnegut Estate v. Brown, a lawsuit that challenges public school classroom and library censorship under Utah’s House Bill 29.02/06/2026
Oregon State UP Director Tom Booth to Retire
Booth will depart after 33 years with the state’s only university press, and seven years as director, at the end of this month.02/06/2026
Distribution Deals for the Week of February 2, 2026
IPG has added four publishers to its sales and distribution programs, and Two Rivers Distribution has inked deals with Three Wishes and Artist Book Foundation.02/05/2026
Libro.fm to Fundraise for Binc
The audiobook service has partnered with four authors to raise funds for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation in support of booksellers in Minnesota and beyond.02/05/2026
Whiting Foundation Appoints First-Ever Resident Directors
Adam Kirsch (l.) and Peter Godwin will head up the foundation’s programs for its Whiting Award for Emerging Writers and Whiting Nonfiction Grant for Works-in-Progress, respectively.02/05/2026
Joy Gorman to Advise Rise Literary on Page-to-Screen
The hybrid publisher has announced a consulting partnership with the TV producer, who has worked on such series adaptations as 13 Reasons Why and Netflix’s forthcoming Little House on the Prairie, to streamline IP development.02/04/2026
Ingram Adding Printing to Oregon Facility
Ingram Content Group is adding printing capability to its Roseburg, Ore.–based distribution center built around its print-on-demand programs.02/03/2026
Aya Elamroussi Named HBG Comms Director
Elamroussi has been named Hachette Book Group’s new director of communications, effective immediately. Most recently, she led internal and external comms for the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.02/03/2026
Ukrainian Awards Proceed Amid Blackout
The third edition of the Chytomo Awards, which honor the best in Ukrainian publishing, took place January 29 in Kyiv, despite frigid temperatures and a blackout resulting from Russian drone attacks.02/02/2026
Cara O’Neil to Head Up Marketing at Mad Cave
O’Neil joins the graphic novel publisher as its director of marketing from Dark Horse Comics, where she most recently served as VP of marketing.02/02/2026
AALA Appoints First-Ever Executive Director
Daniel O’Brien, who also serves as executive director of the Independent Publishers Caucus, joins the Association of American Literary Agents, effective immediately.01/30/2026
Hanover Square Takes ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ Sequel
Grace Towery at Hanover Square won, at auction, U.S. rights to Audrey Niffenegger’s Life Out of Order from Joe Regal at Regal Hoffmann, for an October release, as well as print and e-book rights to The Time Traveler’s Wife.01/30/2026
TokyoPop Forays into Audiobooks
The manga publisher’s debut audiobook line will pull from its catalog of light novels, published under its LoveLove imprint. RBMedia will distribute.01/29/2026
Tyrrell Mahoney Elected AAP Chair
The president of Chronicle Books has been elected Chair of the Board of the Association of American Publishers for the 2026-2027 term.01/29/2026
NYPL’s Schomburg Center Unveils ‘100 Black Voices’
The list, which celebrates the center’s centennial, gathers 100 books written by Black authors, as recommended by writers, artists, and journalists. New York Public Library card holders can immediately access the titles as e-books and audiobooks.01/29/2026
Collective Book Studio Starts Children’s Imprint
Rebekah Lovato Piatte has joined the California indie publisher in the newly created role of children’s editorial director, overseeing Tiny Torch Books, a new imprint aimed at readers ages up to 8.01/29/2026
ABA Relaunches Indie Booksellers Awards
The American Booksellers Association announced that it is reviving its Indies Choice Book Awards, the literary prize program that was initially launched in 1991 and has been on hiatus since 2019.01/28/2026
Judge Named in New Anthropic Suit, Settlement Deadline Pushed
Judge Trina Thompson has been assigned to preside over Carreyrou v. Anthropic, filed by authors who opted out of a recent $1.5 billion settlement from the AI company. The deadline to opt out of that settlement has also been extended.01/28/2026
Bloomsbury Opens Academic Office in Singapore
The U.K.-based company has opened Bloomsbury Singapore in a move chief executive Nigel Newton said will “expand our activity in the region and capitalize on the growing student population.”01/28/2026
LBF to Move to Excel in 2027
The London Book Fair has announced it will relocate to the east London event space from its current home in Olympia as part of a multi-year deal.01/28/2026
House Reps Reintroduce Prison Libraries Act
Originally proposed in 2023, the Prison Libraries Act would authorize $10 million in competitive grant funding annually through 2031 and would help incarcerated people access literature and educational resources.01/28/2026
akaStory Nets Three Romance Titles for Inaugural List
Kate Roddy won North American rights to The Paris Proposal and two additional titles by Kristen Gordon Chaudière (r.) and Erin Baldwin (l.).01/27/2026
IMLS Announces Grant Funding to ‘Combat Antisemitism’
Discretionary grant funding of almost $3 million for four institutions was announced by the Institute of Museum and Library Services on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27.01/27/2026
Academy of American Poets Adds New Chancellors
Gabrielle Calvocoressi (l.) and Cornelius Eady have joined the organization’s Board of Chancellors, composed of 15 poets that advise the Academy, judge its largest prizes, and serve as ambassadors of the art form.01/27/2026
NYPL Offers Instant Access to Game Changers Books
New York Public Library card holders can immediately download ebook and audiobook copies of Rachel Reid’s hockey series, including Heated Rivalry, through February 14. After a shoutout from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, NYPL said downloads surged by 529%.01/26/2026
Will Eisner Week to Return This March
The annual series, which will be held from March 1–7, celebrates the pioneering cartoonist with a series of events in libraries, schools, bookshops, and other venues around the world. Organizers said more than 200 organizations have signed up so far.01/26/2026
Ingram, Pearson Back AI Licensing Company
Cashmere.io, a company offering secure AI licensing tools to publishers, has received $5 million in seed funding from a group of backers including Ingram Content Group, Pearson, and Naver.News Brief Archive
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