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1 week ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
Employees at Quirk Books have announced via social media that 13 of the 22 employees in nonsupervisory positions at the Philadelphia-based independent press have elected to form a union and join the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, Local 38010. The NewsGuild filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on May 22, one day after the employees requested that the company’s management voluntarily recognize the union or else agree to an election.
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
PICTURE BOOKSChristine AlemshahBea’s Balikbayan Box of Treasures (Free Spirit, July; illus. by Dream Chen; $18.99)Why the buzz: “Bea’s imagination, curiosity, and love for family shine on every page. She turns an ordinary box into a rocket ship, bear cave, and playhouse—then helps transform it into a care package for relatives overseas.
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
The associate director of the American Booksellers for Free Expression initiative of the American Booksellers Association joined the ABA in 2023, three years after receiving a PhD in English and comp lit from Columbia University. She talked with PW, where she once worked as a digital production assistant, about how her academic background influences her advocacy, and what the stakes are for booksellers and readers in the current political climate. What’s a typical day for you? It depends.
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
We’re so excited that Children’s Institute 2025 is in Portland, Ore.—a sanctuary city, a paradise for foodies, and the home to amazing independent bookstores,” says Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association.
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
The author of more than 60 books for young readers and 2011’s “Picture Book Manifesto” that challenged creators and their publishers to energize the category, Barnett became the 2025–2026 national ambassador for young people’s literature in February. Barnett, who will be presenting the closing keynote at CI2025, spoke with PW about his love of picture books and how much he enjoys reading aloud picture books written by other authors. What prompted your platform “Behold, the Picture Book”?
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
The American Booksellers Association held its virtual annual meeting and community forum on May 22, drawing 103 participants. The meeting marked Allison Hill's fifth anniversary as CEO. Tegan Tigani, the outgoing ABA board president and children’s book buyer at Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, noted that the pandemic shut down much of the country’s businesses just a month after Hill moved to the ABA, commending Hill and her team for guiding the organization through a turbulent time.
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
HarperCollins Children’s Books stated in an email sent on Wednesday to trade media, including PW, that Dark and Darker Still, a collection of short stories for middle grade readers by J.A. White and illustrated by Ysng Jialun that was scheduled for release on September 2, has been postponed.
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
As high winds and rain buffeted the Twin Cities May 15–17, 325 self-publishers and independent publishers—the same number as last year, with one third of them first-timers and the others seasoned alumni—convened for the l Independent Book Publishers Association’s annual Publishing University at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown St. Paul, Minn., to, as the PubU tagline declares, “connect, collaborate, transform.” CEO Andrea Fleck-Nisbet declared during her welcome remarks that IBPA “has...
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2 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
Sourcebooks is repackaging Claire Legrand’s Empirium series, originally published as a YA trilogy of fantasy novels under the Sourcebooks Fire imprint, as adult fantasy/romantasy under its Casablanca adult romance imprint. The series has sold half a million units across all formats, and the YA editions will remain in print.
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3 weeks ago | 
publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch
The Midwest Independent Booksellers Association has named CJ Arthur as the recipient of the regional booksellers’ association’s 2025 Bookseller of the Year Award. The award was presented by board president Melissa McAllister, the owner of Dragon’s Gate in Ankeny, Ia., on May 12, during MIBA’s spring gathering in Mineral Point, Wisc. Arthur is the owner of WordHaven BookHouse, a bookstore and writing center in Sheboygan, Wisc., as well as an author, educator, public speaker, and equity consultant.
