John Maher, Publishers Weekly

John Maher

Publishers Weekly

New York, United States

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Past:
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  • polygon.com
  • MEL Magazine
  • Pacific Standard

Past articles by John:

Question Time with Sandorf Passage's Buzz Poole

The non-profit, independent publisher Sandorf Passage launched in late 2020 with a focus on publishing works in translation from Eastern European authors and sociopolitical and wartime books in particular. We spoke with Buzz Poole, the publisher, about how the press is developing and more. → Read More

Question Time with Deep Vellum's Will Evans

Dallas, Texas’s Deep Vellum Publishing has had an extraordinary year, relaunching Dalkey Archive Press and publishing Ukrainian writer Andrei Kurkov's 'Grey Bees' just as Russia invaded Ukraine. We spoke with publisher Will Evans and this and other bookish matters. → Read More

Question Time with Astra House's Ben Schrank

We speak with Ben Schrank, the former head of Henry Holt and now head of upstart publisher Astra House, about the latest developments at the press and other bookish matters. → Read More

The Frankfurt Book Fair Shows Resilience

The Frankfurt Book Fair met the current challenges in publishing head on, addressing everything from the war in Ukraine to the cultural dominance of streaming services and rampant inflation. All the while, fairgoers proved faithful, returning to the fair after a three year absence, and reaffirming the resilience of the book industry. → Read More

Frankfurt Book Fair 2022: 'Romantasy' and Revelry on the Fair Floor

“Romantasy,” a portmanteau describing a hot trend in YA titles, could just as easily be used to describe the mood flooding the show floor at the Frankfurt Book Fair: a giddy gratitude, even in the face of ever-increasing global issues. → Read More

Frankfurt Book Fair 2022: Global 50 CEO Talk

This year's Global 50 CEO Talk at the Frankfurt Book Fair, held on October 19, featured Wattpad Webtoon's Ashleigh Gardner and Rakuten Kobo's Michael Tamblyn. → Read More

The Brooklyn Book Festival, After the Storm

After a tough year, the biggest free literary festival in New York City looks toward the future. → Read More

Annie Ernaux Wins 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature

The French author Annie Ernaux has won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, for “the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements, collective restraints of personal memory.” → Read More

The Deer King director brought every lesson from Princess Mononoke to his epic fantasy

In a new interview, Masashi Ando, who worked with Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, talks about adapting the novel The Deer King into a complex adult animation movie that you can now watch on Amazon, Apple, and more. → Read More

The National Book Awards Are Back in Town

The National Book Foundation is preparing for its first live marquee event since the pandemic hit—even as its team looks to the horizon. → Read More

Obituary: Joan Fusco

Joan Fusco, former manager of remainders and overstock at Abrams, died on September 14 following a debilitating stroke. She was 83. → Read More

Amazon to Restrict E-Book Return Policy

Following discussions with the Authors Guild and the U.K.'s Society of Authors, Amazon will change its e-book return policy, no longer allowing readers to return e-books within seven days of purchase unless 10% of the book or less has been read. → Read More

Penguin Publishing Group Launches New Imprint, Thesis

The Penguin Publishing Group will launch a new imprint, Thesis, a sister imprint to the Portfolio and Sentinel imprints publishing “urgent idea-driven nonfiction.” Bria Sandford and Niki Papadopoulos will oversee the imprint's editorial operations. → Read More

Florence Pan, Judge in DOJ v. PRH Case, Confirmed to U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C.

The United States Senate voted on Tuesday to elevate the judge overseeing the lawsuit that will decide the fate of the proposed merger of Penguin Random House with Simon & Schuster to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, filling the seat that belonged to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. → Read More

Jung Hae Chae Wins Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize

'Pojangmacha People' by Jung Hae Chae is the latest winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize. Among previous winners are 'The Collected Schizophrenias' by Esmé Weijun Wang and 'The Empathy Exams' by Leslie Jamison, both of which went on to become bestsellers. → Read More

Verso Books Guild Ratifies Union Contract

The Verso Books Guild US has ratified its union contract, the group announced this week on Twitter. The contract includes wage increases and better protections and benefits for its staffers, among other stipulations. → Read More

Quarto Launches Kaddo Gift Imprint with Sarah Batten as Publisher

The Quarto Group will launch Kaddo, a new gift imprint, in fall 2023. Sarah Batten, editorial director for gift at Laurence King Publishing, is joining the company on September 20 as Kaddo's publisher. → Read More

This Week's Bestsellers: September 12, 2022

Taylor Jenkins Reid's 'Carrie Soto Is Back' has a ball in its first week, Halloween books hit the children's and YA bestseller lists in earnest, and more. → Read More

St. Martin's to Publish Angela Merkel Memoirs

St. Martin's Press will publish former German chancellor Angela Merkel's political memoirs, written with her longtime political advisor Beate Baumann, in the fall of 2024 in the U.S. and Canada. → Read More

DOJ v PRH: Brian Murray Still Wants S&S at HarperCollins

HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray, testifying in the trial over whether the Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster trial will go through, said he was “shocked” by the price PRH offered for S&S. Later in the day, the defense cross-examined the government's economic witness. → Read More