Double Agents

The literary agencies of Brian DeFiore and Stuart Krichevsky are teaming up to form a joint firm under the banner of DeFiore and Company—the latest in a string of agencies to merge or change hands. Private equity firm Trustbridge Partners, which owns the Walker Books Group, has acquired Literati, the education technology company known for its school book fairs and children’s book clubs. HarperCollins U.S. trade publisher Liate Stehlik has named Stephanie Fryling president of sales after reorganizing the department in March. W.W. Norton will publish a book on the importance of neighborliness by Minnesota governor Tim Walz. And Gotham Ghostwriters has issued a set of AI guidelines intended to help ghostwriting professionals use the technology responsibly. In other news, Grand Central Publishing will reissue Octavia Butler’s long out-of-print fourth novel, Survival, this fall, reports the Los Angeles Times. A new law proposed in Illinois aims to bring down e-book costs for public libraries—and has progressed to the state senate, per the Chicago Tribune. Fast Company examines how Walmart has quietly transformed itself into one of Amazon’s top competitors. The Los Angeles Review of Books digs into the online afterlives of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. And Lily King and Robin Wall Kimmerer topped this week’s Independent Publishers Caucus bestseller lists.