Archives for September 2006

Personnel News Colin Fox is going to the Simon & Schuster imprint as a senior editor, reporting to Alice Mayhew. He has been at Warner for the past seven years. Former Harvill publisher Christopher MacLehose is joining the growing team at Quercus in the UK. He’s forming the McLehose Press imprint, aiming to publish six to ten books a year, focused on literature in translation, beginning in fall 2007. At Random House, Jillian Quint has been promoted to assistant editor. Among her projects, she and Matt Kellogg conceived of and edited the anthology Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers. At Harper, […]

Scholastic and the Half-Bloodless Quarter Scholastic’s first quarter report suffers mightily from comparison to last year’s Harry Potter-fueled period, and is historically the company’s weakest reporting period anyway. Sales of $335 million were down $163 million from a year ago, and losses more than doubled, to $47 million. The children’s book publishing and distribution segment was down $112 million from a year ago, registering $275 million in sales, while the operating loss more than tripled, to $67 million. Given that the drop in HP sales was $180 million, other segments of the business picked up considerably, due both to new […]

Nelson Adds Integrity Thomas Nelson will purchase Integrity Publishers, founded in 2001 and among “the fastest growing companies in the Christian publishing sector,” from parent company Integrity Media. Founder and CEO of the publishing unit Bryan Williamson says in the announcement: “We see many opportunities for continued growth, but these will require significant capital investment. Once Mike Coleman, Integrity Media’s Chief Executive Officer, and I decided to seek outside investment, we carefully considered our options. Thomas Nelson quickly became the logical choice. With its ability to publish our authors in multiple formats, a dedicated sales force in every channel, a […]

Hannibal for the Holidays Bantam announced publication of Thomas Harris’s HANNIBAL RISING for December 5, the fourth book featuring Hannibal Lecter. This one focuses on Lecter between ages 6 and 20. A film version of the book, based on a screenplay by Harris, will follow closely with a February release in the US. (When signed in 2004 as part of a two-book deal, the book was originally due for fall 2005. The NYT says Harris completed the manuscript within the last month.) Publisher Irwyn Applebaum says they plan a minimum first printing of 1.5 million copies. Announcements, Awards, Etc. — […]

Gore, Fergie, Fans and More On top of the 140 or so deals we sent out this morning in our weekly round-up, most of the news from the weekend is deal-related as well. Al Gore signed with Penguin Press recently to write THE ASSAULT ON REASON, asserting that “the public arena has grown more hostile to reason,” and that the political culture is blocked by an “unwillingness to let facts drive decisions.” The book is scheduled for May 2007, and the Washington Post opines that, “if the book strikes a chord, it will produce new momentum for Gore to make […]

The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Julie Buxbaum’s debut novel THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, about a 29-year-old attorney who lost her mother as a teenager and finds her well-constructed life falling apart when she can’t commit to the man who […]