A debut thriller won by Minotaur in a seven-figure, two-book deal after a reported 14-way auction was withdrawn by its agents this week for suspected use of AI. The novel, whose title and author PL is withholding for the author’s privacy, sold for an alleged $2.5 million or thereabouts. But rumors surfaced quickly from people who had read the manuscript that the book contained many of the hallmarks of AI, including negative parallelism, off-kilter metaphors, and a flat prose style. On Wednesday, the author’s co-agents Marc Gerald and Ashley Coleman at Europa Content withdrew the book, after questioning the author […]
S&S CEO Greeley: “The challenge ahead of us and the opportunities ahead of us are really independent of who owns us”
Simon & Schuster ceo Greg Greeley spoke to David Steinberger on the Open Book podcast, discussing his first 100 days on the job and more. “At this stage of my career, I really wasn’t looking for a job. What I was looking for was a mission,” Greeley said. “Books…remain one of humanity’s most enduring and important technologies. We preserve ideas across generations. We inspire people. We help understand one another. Books challenge us. And the opportunity to help steward an institution that has served authors and readers for more than a century was really just too compelling to pass up. And frankly, for a […]
People 7/30
Obama’s Summer Reading List
Obituary: Benjamin Alire Saenz
Novelist and poet Benjamin Alire Sáenz, 71, died on July 28 after a “lengthy illness,” the El Paso Times reports. His 2012 novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, won a Printz honor and Pura Belpré award and sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. Saenz also won the 2013 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his novel Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club. Sáenz’s novel When the World Was Happy is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster Children’s on Sept. 29. His Teen Librarian Toolbox post about the book is his last completed essay.
Lagardere Publishing Sales Flat In Second Quarter
Lagardere announced results for the second quarter, with publishing sales flat at €728 million. “Lagardère Publishing demonstrated its resilience in challenging markets thanks especially to the strength of its diversified businesses,” chair and ceo Arnaud Lagardère said in a release. “In the trade segment, the portfolio benefited from publishing successes and robust international backlist sales. The division is also enjoying very good momentum in Spain and Latin America, while Board Games and Partworks are continuing to support growth.” In the first half of the year, publishing sales were €1.343 billion compared to €1.349 billion last year, down 0.4 percent, though […]