Archives for December 2004

Schedule Considering how quiet it is, we were surprised to find a good selection of interesting pieces to share. Just as we did last week, this issue is a combo regular Lunch and Lunch Weekly. Our schedule is still uncertain, but look for one or two more dispatches later this week. Timing Shines on Canseco’s Book Jose Canseco has followed an ever-changing path ever since he first started shopping his book about his baseball days two-and-a-half years ago, but with steroids and sports making front page news, the timing suddenly looks just right. Originally scheduled for release in late April […]

Schedule Notes Theoretically this note is meant to explain our publication schedule for the next two weeks, but I haven’t really made any decisions yet. Some Lunch will be served through next Thursday, though probably not every day. We will, however, have at least a couple of year-end extras on the way. I imagine dispatches will be very light the following week, but more on that later. Deals will be dispatched as usual, both daily and weekly. Personnel News Tracy Behar is moving to Little, Brown as executive editor. She was editorial director at Atria and Washington Square Press. Publisher […]

An Extra-Happy Holiday at S&S Among the houses clearly having a good year was Simon & Schuster, from political surprises at the beginning of the year to long-awaited releases like Bob Dylan’s memoir at the end of the year, with gifts like Dan Brown’s backlist giving back all year long (Angels & Demons and Deception Point now have 11.5 million copies in print). And even the Red Sox lent a hand. CEO Jack Romanos buoyantly congratulates employees in his year-end letter, noting “double-digit gains in both revenues and profits.” This all comes amidst the traditional acknowledgment of the general challenges […]

Olson’s Letter Peter Olson has caused somewhat more than the usual stir with his annual year-end letter. Both the WSJ and the NY Daily News take note of a line near the end that reads: “In the year ahead I will report to you on our progress with these initiatives, which, in time, may include direct sales online of our books to readers as a complement to our existing sales channels and the expansion of our proprietary publishing, as well as many other publishing, marketing, and distribution ideas.” The Journal erroneously leads with the conclusion that it’s “the first such […]

Google Goes for Millions of Books About five years after wads of ill-invested venture capital set off to digitize mini-libraries of tens of thousands of books, Google has announced a major expansion of their Google Print project that points the company squarely towards bringing as many as tens of millions of books into their online index in a multi-year endeavor. In this phase, the company has announced partnerships to digitize and present search capability for the University of Michigan’s seven million volumes and nearly all of Stanford University’s eight million volumes. A pilot program with Harvard University will start with […]

Martha’s Non-Deal Martha Stewart’s recently-announced TV deal was brokered before she went to prison (where she’s not allowed to conduct business) but as far as anyone can tell, a memoir deal — if there is to be a deal at all — will wait until after her release. At least two publishing people tell NY Magazine that a $10 million asking price is a mighty large obstacle. NY Mag More Best Lists We’ve always liked the Seattle Times book pages; this weekend, they offered a main list of top 25 books, plus, “because book critic Michael Upchurch and crime fiction […]