Archives for December 2006

Pearson Picks Up Some Cash Pearson sold its Government Solutions unit to Veritas Capital for $560 million, plus $40 million in preferred stock and a continuing 10 percent share in the business, the WSJ reports (following an initial report in the FT). Pearson says they will use the proceeds to pay off debt and fund acquisitions. WSJ More on the Bible Business Similar to last week’s report on the bible business in the WSJ, the New Yorker does the story their way this week. The focus is on Thomas Nelson, where “bible sales increased more than fifteen per cent last […]

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 Twenty-seven-year-old writer and former WMA assistant to Jay Mandel, Liza Monroy’s MEXICAN […]

January 2007 Book Sense and More The ABA has announced their January picks, and posted a variety of Book Sense bestseller lists for 2006. January 1. SACRED GAMES: A Novel, by Vikram Chandra RETURNING TO EARTH: A Novel, by Jim Harrison SILENT IN THE GRAVE, by Deanna Raybourn KOCKROACH: A Novel, by Tyler Knox THE SAFFRON KITCHEN: A Novel, by Yasmin Crowther THE BLACK SUN, by James Twining THE TEAHOUSE FIRE: A Novel, by Ellis Avery FIND ME: A Novel, by Carol O’Connell THE MATHEMATICS OF LOVE: A Novel, by Emma Darwin THE BLADE ITSELF: A Novel, by Marcus Sakey […]

Iraq Reports and More The Iraq Report garnered the expected news coverage and the AP says Vintage is “already in a second printing” though the house did not provide numbers. But with a strict on-sale window of noon yesterday, physical books were scarce in the city where demand may have been the most intense, Washington, DC, where an initial shipping snafu left most bookstores with few or no copies. Politics & Prose had six national news camera crews standing by to televise the opening of their cartons, but when the books didn’t arrive, the press relocated to Kramerbooks, which got […]

Microsoft Book Beta Live Microsoft launches the beta version of its online book search feature today. Once the beta period is over, planned for about six months, Microsoft says they will incorporate book search results into their general search index. Google is also at work on putting their book search data into the general index, though a timeline has not been specified. And Google is planning on launching their paid online access program in the first quarter of next year, according to a member of the book search team. First announced in March 2006, and said at the time to […]

Personnel News Andrea Schulz has been promoted to editor-in-chief at Harcourt, overseeing hardcover acquisition for the adult list, and reporting to publisher Rebecca Saletan. At Scholastic, president of the eScholastic division Seth Radwell is taking the additional position of president of Scholastic at Home, the company’s “direct-to-home parent resource” that includes school continuity programs and Back to Basics Toys. Radwell takes over the line from Judy Newman, who remains as president of Scholastic Book Clubs. At Bookspan’s Madison Park Press, Christine Zika joins the unit as executive editor, acquiring and editing original book projects. She was a senior editor at […]