June
Elliott buys Barnes & Noble. US investment firm Elliot Advisors, owner of Waterstones, announces it will buy US retailer Barnes & Noble for $683m, with James Daunt running both chains. Despite rumours of a possible rival bid from ReaderLink, the deal goes through in August.
Acevedo wins Carnegie Medal. Dominican-American Elizabeth Acevedo becomes first author of colour to win the CILIP Carn- egie Medal in the prize’s 83-year history, with her verse novel about a young girl growing up in Harlem, The Poet X (Egmont).
Sophie Christopher dies. Transworld is devastated by the sudden death of senior publicit manager Sophie Christopher, 28.
July
PRH reveals Stormzy imprint. William Heinemann’s partner- ship with musician Stormzy for a new imprint, #MerkyBooks, is announced.
Cressida Cowell named children’s laureate. How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell is named the new Waterstones children’s laureate, and kicks off her tenure with a 10-point charter for encouraging children’s reading and creativit.
August
BA joins retailers in call for business rates reform. The Booksellers Association joins 50 other retail groups in an open leter co-ordinated by the British Retail Association, calling on new prime minister Boris Johnson to reform business rates urgently to save the high street.
Toni Morrison dies. Literary great Toni Morrison dies at the age of 88. Chato’s publishing director Clara Farmer says “a
TheBookseller.com
ELIZABETH ACEVEDO WAS THE FIRST BAME WRITER TO WIN THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL
monumental voice in our culture has fallen silent”.
September
Midnight launch for Atwood’s Testaments. Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale (Vintage), The Testaments (Chato), launches at Waterstones Piccadilly with huge fanfare, despite Amazon in the US break- ing the book’s strict embargo. It becomes the fastest-selling adult fiction title of the year, selling more than 100,000 units through Nielsen’s TCM in its first week.
Pan Macmillan on the move. Pan Mac leaves King’s Cross aſter 18 years to move into new offices in Clerkenwell. Staff no longer have designated locations, but are free to base themselves anywhere around the building.
PAN MAC MOVED INTO NEW DIGS...
BERNARDINE EVARISTO BECAME THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO WIN THE BOOKER IN OCTOBER
October
Booker Prize double sparks judging controversy. The Booker Prize is awarded jointly to Margaret Atwood’s The Testa- ments (Chato) and Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton) aſter the judges decide to flout rules banning a double win. Evaristo becomes the first black woman to win, but the decision to split the prize is widely criticised.
Baggaley moves to Blooms- bury. Picador publisher Paul Baggaley announces his depar- ture aſter 11 years at Pan Macmil- lan, to become editor-in-chief for adult consumer publishing at Bloomsbury.
November
BA’s Tim Godfray retires. Tim Godfray, executive chair of the Booksellers Association, retires from the trade body aſter 47 years, over 30 of which he spent as its chief executive. Meryl Halls is appointed as his successor.
Hachette announces Manchester office. Hachete becomes the first of the major publishers to announce a regional office, with a Manchester venture opening in February 2020. Hachete Childrens Group’s group picture book editor Emma Layfield will be the first staffer based there.
December
CIPFA stats revealed. The latest Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy library statistics show 35 libraries closed in the year to end March 2019, with the current total, 3,583, down by 800 from a decade ago.
More online
...AND TIM GODFRAY BADE FAREWELL TO THE BA
To read the full version of all of these stories, as well as many others published throughout 2019 in print and online, visit
www.thebookseller.com
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