It sounds as if RDR Books will at least try to keep its options open on finding a way to publish Steve Vander Ark’s HARRY POTTER LEXICON. The Detroit Free Press says they “expect their attorneys this week to file a notice of appeal preserving the right to continue the legal battle for their Harry Potter book.” As we pointed out in our coverage of the case, much of the Judge’s decision rested on excessive copying of the two slim tie-in companion books Fantastic Beasts and Quidditch Through the Ages (along with excessive copying of JK Rowling’s descriptive language from […]
Archives for September 2008
The Patterson Business
There’s no question that one segment of the publishing industry–the James Patterson business–remains thriving. The UK’s Independent has him “on target to sell more than 20m books in the US alone” this year, with 10 original Patterson titles launching in the UK during 2008. Patterson tells the paper: “There is a kind of Mickey Mouse way of looking at brands. In particular in the States, a lot of the publishing houses are lost in the Middle Ages, they really don’t have a clue. I remember initially it was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to hurt the brand by doing […]
Medina Will Return in Serbia
After being withdrawn in the wake of protests by Muslims, Serbian publisher Beobook indicates their edition will return to bookstores. Company director Aleksandar JasiÄ “explained that despite the fact that the book was withdrawn from the stores in July, copies were still available in the streets at double prices, adding that soon after the publisher dropped the book, pirate versions started to sell”–and he says reader reactions have been “very positive.”Serbian report
The Season in France
A French news service share statistics on the big French fall publishing season, “an important ritual on the French literary circuit. Every year, by the end of August, French booksellers get agitated, critics get irritated, and writers become nervous as a profusion of titles hits the bookshelves.” The total count of 676 novels is down slightly from last year’s 727 works. Of those, 210 are works in translation. They come from 98 publishers in all, and even the biggest houses have only a small share: “Gallimard and Fayard have 18 novels each, Le Seuil 15, Grasset 14, Le Rocher 13, […]
People
Sarah Sper will join Simon Spotlight Entertainment as editor on September 23. She has been acquiring and editing pop culture and celebrity-driven titles at HBG’s Center Street. Amy Scholder has been hired as editorial director of the Feminist Press at CUNY. She has worked at Seven Stories Press, Verso Books, Serpent’s Tail and City Lights Publishers.
Oprah's Telle?; BN's Pick
There’s good circumstantial reason to believe the online speculation covered on Galleycat and elsewhere that David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a prime candidate as the selection for Oprah’s Book Club to be announced this Friday. Based on the scant metadata displayed by online booksellers, we know that it’s a recently published HarperCollins book available only in hardcover at $25.95 and in a Harper Luxe large-print edition. The best giveaway comes from Amazon’s Canadian site, where they also indicate the page count of 576, the same as Sawtelle. Amazon.ca lists the publisher as “unknown” to try and avoid […]