So Much for Those Assurances

This comes as a surprise--and not a favorable one. London-based publisher Quercus, which since its founding in 2004 has built a reputation largely on the strength of its crime-fiction list (Philip Kerr, Peter May, and Stieg Larsson are all Quercus authors), is up for sale. CEO Mark Smith, who just recently had “said a merger was not on the cards for the firm,” now tells The Bookseller:

“We’ve been considering for some months how best to take the business forward for the long term in light of the fundamental changes which are taking place in our core UK marketplace. We now feel that the skills and experience of Quercus’ team will flourish best within a larger organisation and so we’ve decided to put the company up for sale. In the meantime it’s business as usual at Baker Street.”

You’ll find more about this turn of events here.