Archives for December 2007

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 First time novelist Patrick DeWitt’s ABLUTIONS, a dark, literary novel about […]

Personnel News Alibris founder Marty Manley is stepping down after ten years, to start a new company — details of which will be announced next year. Alibris President and coo Brian Elliott will take over as ceo of the online book, music, and movie exchange as of the new year. Manley says in the announcement, “The end of a decade is the right time for me to make a transition that we have been considering for some time. Brian is the right person to lead this company through the next stage of its growth, and I am proud to turn […]

Ross Leaving Cody’s Cody’s Books president Andy Ross resigned on Monday. Hiroshi Kagawa, the former ceo of Japanese distributor Yohan, is now acting president. A company spokesperson tells PW that further reorganization is underway but that it will be business as usual at the bookseller’s store on Fourth Street in Berkeley — their only remaining location after the closing of their San Francisco store earlier this year. PW French Publishers Drop Rights Claims to Calder Backlist The dispute between Oneworld Classics, the buyer of UK publisher John Calder, and French publishers Minuit and Gallimard over rights to many of the […]

Starbucks Has February Pick As we noted yesterday at the site, Starbucks has selected David Sheff’s BEAUTIFUL BOY: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction as their fourth in-store book selection, going on sale in Starbucks stores on February 26. Starbucks Entertainment president Ken Lombard says, “We seek titles that will inspire conversation both in our stores and with our customers. David’s story embraces a depth of emotion, support and human resilience that brings readers face-to-face with an epidemic that is sweeping the nation.” Sheff will visit 10 Starbucks stores as part of his larger book tour. He will also […]

Houghton Raises Cash by Selling College Assets to Cengage for $750 Million Highly-leveraged Houghton is working to bring down their debt levels by selling off their College Division for $750 million, to Cengage Learning (the company formerly known as Thomson Learning). Cengage says they can finance the deal under their current credit agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland, along with an unspecified “additional equity investment” from the private equity partners that own the company. Houghton says it wants to “focus on its core K-12 educational publishing business,” which will expand further once their acquisition of the Harcourt Education assets […]

Guinness World Records for Sale Again HIT Entertainment (owned by private equity firm Apax) has put the Guinness World Records franchise back up for sale, with a reported price tag of about $120 million, the Times reports. (Separately, they are also looking to sell of Sooty the puppet.) HIT acquired the business when it bought Gullane Entertainment in 2002 and considered selling it off at the time. Times Washington Post’s Holiday Picks The Post’s book section presents a variety of picks from the year, culling their 100 “most favorable” reviews for both nonfiction and fiction, along with their Top Ten […]