New Publishers, Agents, and Other Ventures in 2020
A roundup of new publishers, agents, and digital media ventures (book-related) that were announced in 2020.
Day: December 23, 2020
The Association of Authors Representatives changes its name, launches nonprofit
Going forward, the AAR will be known as the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA).
Roxane Gay is launching a book club and newsletter
It’s called The Audacious Book Club, which is part of a new overall endeavor called The Audacity, debuting on January 11, with new writing from Gay
Robin Cutler has joined LMBPN Publishing
Robin Cutler recently retired as head of IngramSpark, the print-on-demand distribution arm of Ingram that serves self-publishing authors.
Rachelle Gardner launches her own agency
Gardner, well-known for advising writers through her blog, is launching Gardner Literary, a full-service agency “representing diverse authors at the crossroads of faith and culture.”
Jay-Z launches an imprint with Random House
The new imprint, Roc Lit 101, will be partly overseen by One World publisher and editor in chief Chris Jackson.
Spiegel & Grau are back
Last year, Penguin Random House shut down its imprint Spiegel & Grau, run by the well-known veteran editors Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau.
BookFunnel adds support for audio
BookFunnel, the service used by many authors to distribute digital review copies and giveaways (as well as sell ebooks direct), can now deliver digital audio.
Book sales update: print units up 8 percent versus last year
Print sales continue to run ahead of 2019 according to NPD BookScan, which tracks sales through brick-and-mortar and online retailers.
A couple more takes on the potential PRH acquisition of Simon & Schuster
In our last issue, we rounded up multiple viewpoints on the potential of the Big Five becoming the Big Four.