Nov 29 2022
More than 150 literary agents, whose clients include Danielle Jackson, V.E. Schwab and L.A. Chandlar, have signed an open letter to HarperCollins vowing to “omit” the publisher from upcoming book submissions until it reaches an agreement with striking employees.
Around 250 entry- and mid-level staff members, from publicists to editorial assistants, have been on strike since Nov. 10, with the two sides differing over wages, workforce diversity and other issues that have become increasingly prominent across the industry. No new talks are scheduled.
“While many consider publishing to be a labor of love, we agents know how quickly that labor can lead to burnout, tension, missed opportunities for advancement, and mistakes,” the letter reads in part.
“This generation of rising publishing professionals must contend with student loan debt, the rising cost of living, and the barriers inherent in working long hours without adequate compensation. These employees, many of whom bring with them the diverse viewpoints our industry lacks, have been essential to the production of the books we are so proud of.”
Nov 17 2022
The National Book Awards returned in-person for the first time since 2019 on November 16 at their usual location of Cipriani Wall Street in New York City’s financial district. Presiding over the evening’s award ceremony was author, producer, and television host Padma Lakshmi, who donned a button supporting the members of the HarperCollins Union, who were demonstrating outside the venue. Read the full story here, and view the winners on BookBrowse - link below.
Nov 17 2022
As the 73rd National Book Awards kicked off at the swanky Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, unionized HarperCollins employees took their strike to the sidewalks surrounding the venue. As guests lined up to grace the NBA's red carpet, they were greeted by HC union members who offered information on worker rights, fair wages, and buttons to show support for their cause.
Employees in the HarperCollins union have been on an indefinite strike since Nov. 10 after working without a contract since April. Negotiations with the publisher reportedly broke down over raising base pay for workers, said Local 2110 UAW president Olga Brudastova. The publisher has been radio silent since and has not initiated another round of negotiations, she added.
Nov 10 2022
Stephanie Guerdan started working in the children’s book department of HarperCollins Publishers six years ago. It was a dream job – just not a dream paycheck. The $33,500-a-year salary was well below a livable wage in New York City, but Guerdan didn’t ask for more. “I was terrified that I was not going to get that job if I negotiated,” they said. “Publishing is very much an industry where they tell you, ‘If you don’t want this, there are 500 people in line behind you who do.’”
Publishing has for decades has been known for its low pay and overwhelmingly white staff. But workers at HarperCollins, the only member of the “big four” publishing houses to have a union, have had enough and authorized an indefinite strike. Work stopped at the downtown Manhattan offices on the sunny morning of 10 November. Employees like Guerdan, who is a shop steward at the union, spilled on to the streets to picket.
“We want to create a workplace that is more financially sustainable for employees and accessible to people from a variety of backgrounds,” said Olga Brudastova, president of Local 2110 United Auto Workers, the union that HarperCollins workers are part of.
More than 250 HarperCollins employees are unionized, including workers in the editorial, sales, publicity, design, legal and marketing departments. The strike was authorized by a vote of 95.1% last month. It comes after 11 months of negotiations with HarperCollins management over a new contract, and a one-day strike that occurred on 20 July.
According to the union, the average salary at the company is $55,000 annually, and the majority of employees are women. HarperCollins, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp, reported record profits in 2021.
Sep 23 2022
The Booker prize-winning author of the Wolf Hall trilogy, Dame Hilary Mantel, has died aged 70 of a stroke, her publisher HarperCollins has confirmed.
Mantel was regarded as one of the greatest English-language novelists of this century, winning the Booker Prize twice, for Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, which also won the 2012 Costa book of the year.
The conclusion to her groundbreaking Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror & the Light, was published in 2020 to huge critical acclaim, became an instant Sunday Times bestseller and was longlisted for the Booker prize.
HarperCollins confirmed she had died on Thursday “suddenly yet peacefully”, surrounded by close family and friends.
Apr 09 2022
Henry Patterson, the bestselling novelist who wrote the The Eagle Has Landed, has died aged 92.
The writer died at his home in Jersey surrounded by his family, his publisher HarperCollins said.
Patterson wrote 85 novels, predominantly thrillers and in the espionage genre, using the pseudonym Jack Higgins.
He is most synonymous with writing The Eagle Has Landed, set during the second world war, which was published in 1975.
It sold more than 50m copies and was adapted into a British film of the same name which starred Sir Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Jenny Agutter and Robert Duvall.
Feb 23 2022
Private equity firm Veritas Capital is buying educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $2.8 billion in cash, HMH announced yesterday.
The sale comes a little less than a year after Houghton Mifflin Harcourt sold its trade division to HarperCollins for $349 million. Per the Boston Globe, HMH's shares have nearly tripled in the past year, giving it a market value of close to $2.3 billion. Recently the publisher, which dates back to 1832, has pivoted from textbooks to educational services that include online components.
May 10 2021
HarperCollins, the second largest trade publisher in the U.S., has completed its acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media. HC, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, agreed to buy the HMH trade division in March for $349 million.
(Trade is the term used to describe books intended for a general audience as opposed to, for example, academic books.)
The Flower Sisters
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As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
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