British fan artist Alan Joseph Hunter, 89, died August 1, 2012 after a long illness. Hunter illustrated the covers and interiors of many fanzines, including Algol/Starship, Science Fiction Chronicle, It Goes on the Shelf, Science Fantasy Bulletin, and The Zone. He also did occasional cover illustrations for small-press novels, collections, and anthologies. See the December issue [...]

Random House and Penguin have signed an agreement to combine the two companies, forming Penguin Random House, though such a merger is subject to government approval before it can be finalized. If all goes well, the merger will be complete by late 2013. Under the terms of the agreement, Random House parent company Bertselmann would [...]

A spokesperson for Pearson, the British media company that owns publisher Penguin, has confirmed that Pearson “is discussing with Bertelsmann a possible combination of Penguin and Random House. The two companies have not reached agreement and there is no certainty that the discussions will lead to a transaction.” German conglomerate Bertelsmann has declined to comment, referring questioners [...]

Writer Janet Berliner, 73, died October 24, 2012. Born September 24, 1939 in Cape Town, South Africa, Janet Berliner was a horror writer who won a Bram Stoker Award for story “Children of the Dusk” (1997) written with George Guthridge. Some of her short work was gathered in Exotic Locals (2000), a CD-Rom collection co-authored [...]

The Humble eBook Bundle sale ended yesterday, raising over $1.2 million from 84, 219 purchases in two weeks, with readers choosing to pay an average of $14.28 for the selection of DRM-free SF/F e-books and comic collections. The total will be divided among the authors, the makers of the Humble Bundle, and three charities: the Electronic [...]

Helen Marshall, managing editor at ChiZine Publications for the past three years, is stepping down. In addition to working as managing editor, Marshall edited several titles herself, and co-founded the Chiaroscuro Reading Series and the Toronto SpecFic Colloquium. Samantha Beiko will take over as managing editor. For more, see the press release at SFScope.

Ellen Datlow is joining Tor.com as a consulting fiction editor. Datlow has many credits to her name, having edited fiction for Omni, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Best Horror of the Year, among others. Her awards include the Hugo, three Bram Stoker Awards and nine World Fantasy Awards. Tor.com has been publishing [...]

Several pieces of art were stolen from the New York City studio of artist Arthur Suydam, including Suydam’s own painting, “Alien Genocide” and a drawing by the late Frank Frazetta, “Little Devil”. The artist asks that anyone with information about the theft or the whereabouts of the art contact him at suyd AT earthlink.net or [...]

UK publisher Quercus, which includes SF imprint Jo Fletcher Book, announced plans to establish a New York office and to begin publishing books in North America starting in Fall 2013. Quercus made a multi-year sales and distribution agreement with Random House Publisher Services, which will handle all print and e-book distribution in the US and [...]

The Horror Writers Association has added three new Guests of Honor to the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend 2013, incorporating the annual World Horror Convention. Newly announced Guests of Honor include writer, director, and actor Amber Benson; author Bruce Boston; and artist Glenn Chadbourne. They join previously announced guests editor John Joseph Adams and authors Ramsey [...]