Archives for February 2005

RH Sues Diddy For Dough Over Unwritten Manuscript Random House filed suit on Monday against music mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, seeking the return of an advance paid by Ballantine in 1998 for an autobiography that the star never wrote. The house said in a statement, “We now have waited for over five years and have received neither the manuscript nor the return of the money we advanced Mr. Combs.” According to court papers, the publisher began notifying Diddy that he was in breach of contract and they wanted their $300,000 advance back as of early 2000. (Starting in 2001, […]

Please Note I have to run out of town tomorrow to visit a friend, so Lunch will be served closer to dinnertime. Gallagher Moves Up at Morrow Lisa Gallagher has been promoted to publisher for the William Morrow, HarperEntertainment and Eos imprints, reporting to HarperMorrow division president Michael Morrison. Morrow executive editor Claire Wachtel and cookbook editorial director Harriet Bell will continue to report directly to Morrison, as will Avon executive editor Carrie Feron and her “romance team.” Separately, Kim Sorrell will join Adams Media next month as key accounts manager, including responsibility for relationships with Baker & Taylor, Ingram, […]

Penguin Expands Revised Paperback The Penguin Group is officially rolling out their revised “premium” mass-market format among a number of lead titles, beginning this July with Maeve Binchy’s NIGHT OF RAIN AND STARS. The revision features such upgrades as larger type, more white space, better quality paper and a larger trim size that still fits standard racks. The format is priced at $9.99. Harlequin Adds Another Foreign Line Harlequin will launch a co-publishing partnership in Brazil with Record Publishing Group, beginning on April 1. The companies plan to issue 100 titles together in the first year. His Award Among the […]

Smithsonian’s New Program “A Major Expansion” As expected, the Smithsonian Institution and HarperCollins did announce their co-publishing agreement yesterday. The unexpected part is the agreement launches a much more ambitious and trade-focused publishing program under the Smithsonian’s banner, or what Smithsonian Business Ventures ceo Gary Beer calls “a major expansion of our content and brand in the marketplace.” The new line aims to issue a whopping 100 Smithsonian-branded titles a year, drawing on the collections, resources, and relationships of the Institution. Collins president Joe Tessitore notes, “We’re working with the curators of every museum in the Smithsonian.” In contrast to […]

The Disney Show The lid is off of DISNEYWARS. I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but it turns out that Disney executives were competitive and petty, Michael Eisner has never really respected Robert Iger, and he didn’t even think Lost was a good TV show: ‘Lost’ is terrible,” he says. “The pilot was two hours; it was broken into two one-hour episodes. Then the show goes off a cliff. There’s no more plane crash! Who cares about these people on a desert island?” A news story in the NYT says, “Much of the information in DisneyWar is not […]

Penguin UK Mess Claims Unexpected Victim Penguin UK chief executive Anthony Forbes Watson told his staff this morning that he is resigning. Overall Penguin Group chairman and CEO John Makinson attributed the departure to “differences on the way forward for the Penguin and DK businesses.” Apparently Makinson has some extra time on his hands and will thus fill the role that Forbes Watson held for eight years himself. PN reports he said, “I will be back in touch in a few days with more detail on how I plan to run Penguin in the UK and DK.” Makinson also said […]