Archives for October 2006

Hodgmania The LAT goes looking for the real John Hodgman, now “an accidental celebrity” following his role as PC in a series of Apple TV commercials but always an “archly amusing nerd.” Though both stand in contrast to “the other Hodgman, by all accounts, a sweet man, devoid of enemies and pretense, a father of two and husband for seven years to a high school teacher.” New projects include a second book of fake facts, and an effort to turn his public radio appearances into a show for Showtime. LAT Adobe Offers Flashy Reader Adobe is rearing its e-book face […]

Houghton Sale Pending Dublin-based educational software company Riverdeep is preparing to buy Houghton Mifflin from private equity owners Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital, even though the publishing company is thought to be almost four times larger in sales. Irish papers say the deal would be financed through a combination of equity and debt, and they speculate a valuation for Houghton of $3.5 billion. A deal is expected to be finalized within the next few weeks. If correct, that would be a multiple of almost three times last year’s sales of $1.28 billion. The current owners bought the company in […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form 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 UK TV producer Jane Fallon’s GETTING RID OF MATTHEW, about a long-suffering […]

Personnel News Marisa Bulzone will join Sterling in the new position of editorial director, Hearst Books next week, reporting to Sterling editorial director Patricia Gift. She was executive editor at Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Kathy Daneman is leaving her position as publicity director of Soho Press to become publicity manager at Farrar, Straus. Colleen Lindsay will take over as Soho Press’s publicity director. She has worked as an independent publicist and assistant director of publicity at Ballantine. Urban Books has renewed its distribution agreement with Kensington through 2013. Assorted Briefs — eWeek’s Googlewatch notes that the deadline for motions for […]

Hosseini for Spring Riverhead has announced the release of Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini’s second novel, now called A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, for May 22, 2007. The house says they have shipped more than 4 million copies of the trade paperback of Kite Runner. A first printing has not been announced yet, but Hosseini will tour for the new title. Buyers In Talks with Informa Informa, the UK-based conglomerate that owns Taylor & Francis, is in early discussions with private equity firms Cinven and Candover about a sale. The private equity players are partners in Springer Science & Business Media, […]

Crowds for Obama People stood in line on a rainy Chicago street for up to three hours before the Borders bookstore even opened as Barack Obama began his book tour for THE AUDACITY OF HOPE: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. And in Seattle, Elliott Bay Book Co. sold 2,100 tickets at five dollars each in just two hours for Obama’s appearance there later this month. They “turned away at least 100 people,” the Seattle PI reports. It will be the bookseller’s biggest speech/signing ever, filling a larger venue than they used for appearances by Bill Clinton and Colin Powell. […]