Gotham publisher Bill Shinker explains to the WSJ that “the week after Christmas is a great time to put out books,” in part due to the rise in gift-card sales. Barnes & Noble says gift card purchases have doubled over the past five years. Highlighted newly-releasing titles in this short piece are: Josh Bazell’s Beat the ReaperAnn Coulter’s Guilty: Liberal ‘Victims’ and Their Assault on AmericaAzar Nafisi’s Things I’ve Been Silent About: MemoriesHarry S. Dent’s The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History WSJ
Archives for December 2008
S&S Year-End Thoughts, and More
In “a challenging year,” SImon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy’s year-end letter is mostly focused on taking “time to celebrate our industry and our company, to remember and be grateful for what makes publishing an exciting and wonderful business and Simon & Schuster a special company within it.” She also suggest that “this is precisely the moment – when established routines do not yield the customary results – that we must take chances and embrace risk.” In digital news, like Random House, Simon & Schuster will “nearly quadruple eBook sales this year” even with a delay in their initiative announced […]
Bertram's Status–Whatever
Ever since the troubles at Woolworth’s became severe earlier this fall, we’ve been dubious about the short statements from Bertram’s managing director Michael Neil, whose twin pillars have been business is great and sale of the book wholesaler is imminent. Now Neil finally admits no sale is likely until next year, and calls himself unrealistic: “”Bertrams will be sold–probably not as quickly as we said it would be, but that’s because of Christmas and New Year. It’s unrealistic to think it would be sorted out this close to Christmas.” And business remains great, except not: “We had a great week […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, December 22
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 A.D. Scott’s FAULTLINES, about a young Scottish boy who is found […]
Bernard on the State of Things
Former Harcourt executive Andre Bernard uses the recent memorial service for Robert Giroux as the launching point for an assessment of current happenings in publishing (and at Harcourt in particular). He says that Houghton Mifflin Harcout is “reportedly now trying to bring” recently fired longtime editor Drenka Willen back “in another capacity.” “One way or another, whether printed on paper or seen on an electronic screen, good books — great books — will continue to find their way to readers. Good writers — great writers — will continue to surface, with the help of the Drenka Willens and Rebecca Saletans […]
Still More Best of Lists, from the SF Chronicle
They picks 50 top nonfiction books and 50 fiction and poetry works. A separate piece lists notable books by Bay Area authors.