Publishers Lunch

Briefs

 

At Lerner Publishing Group, Rachel Zugschwert has been promoted to vp, marketing, and Greg Hunter to editorial director, Graphic Universe, both effective January 1, 2019.

Forthcoming
Zadie Smith's first short story collection GRAND UNION will be published by Penguin Press in fall 2019, and in the UK by Hamish Hamilton on October 3, 2019. It will contain ten new stories, as well as 10 more of "her very best, drawn from two decades of remarkable short fiction."

Initiatives
Boston creative writing center GrubStreet has been selected by the city to open a new "civic-cultural space" on the first and second floors of Fifty Liberty, a 14-story condo tower in the Seaport District. The 3,000 square foot space, leased to the company at a discount, will include "a bookstore, cafe, podcast studio, classrooms, and an area for readings and storytelling events." The aim of the project is to bring "innovative cultural destinations" to the Seaport and promote diversity. To fund construction, GrubStreet will receive a $25-per-square-foot construction allowance from building owners Fallon Co., as well as a $2 million grant from the Calderwood Charitable Foundation. Executive director Eve Bridburg said, "We'll bring something different. Books and a bookstore are something that make a neighborhood a home, a place where people come to congregate and convene.’"

Separately, the King's English Bookshop is set to pair with airport retail operator Paradies Lagardere for two bookstores in the rebuilt version of the Salt Lake City airport, due to open its first phase in 2020.

Legal
The ongoing litigation between former Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros and the book retailer will continue well into 2019. Judge John G. Koetl approved a request from Parneros's attorney Anne Clark, already agreed to by Barnes & Noble, to extend the original December 21 deadline to either to move or answer Barnes & Noble's counterclaims. The parties are still in discussion over the defendant's indemnification/advancement claim, which Clark plans to address in the same letter to the court as the counterclaims. The new dates require the plaintiff to move or answer BN's counterclaims by Jan 18, with the defendant's response due Feb. 15, and the plaintiff's reply March 1.