She squeaked by in a three-to-two vote among the judges, but the heavily-favored Mantel prevailed last night and took the Booker Prize. Chair of the judges James Naughtie said, “It wasn’t a unanimous decision. These things seldom are, but it was a decision with which we were all content. There was no blood on the carpet. We parted good friends.” It’s the first-ever Booker win for the UK’s Fourth Estate, and Holt is set to release the US edition next Tuesday. At the Huffington Post, Amy Hertz praises and congratulates her mentor and Mantel’s US editor, Jack Macrae. Mantel, who […]
Archives for October 2009
Announcements: Hefty Printing for Wimpy Kid, and More
Abrams announced a four-million-copy laydown for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days on Monday, October 12. And the publisher reports “more than 300,000 reservations” of copies. Separately, Hachette Book Group is expanding their distribution relationship with Chronicle Books (and Chronicle’s own roster of distribution clients) to include sales and distribution immediately in Latin America; and starting January 1 in the Middle East and Caribbean. In personnel news, Quill & Quire reported that Raincoast Books founder and ceo Allan MacDougall, 62, has stepped down. VP and business manager John Sawyer, “who had been handling most of the day-to-day operations for […]
People and Awards
Simon & Schuster UK group sales & marketing director Charlotte Robertson is leaving to join Aitken Alexander as an agent next year. At Cengage Learning, Ron Mobed has been hired as president of the academic andprofessional group, effective immediately, reporting to ceo Ronald Dunn. Previous president Charles Siegel is retiring. The National Book Foundation named their new list of “5 Under 35“: Ceridwen Dovey, Blood KinC. E. Morgan, All the LivingLydia Peelle, Reasons for and Advantages of BreathingKaren Russell, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by WolvesJosh Weil, The New Valley Ian Frazier won the Thurber Prize for American Humor […]
Judge Denies Cryogenics Company Alcor's Effort to Block Whistleblower's Book
As threatened last week, Alcor Life Extension filed suit in New York Supreme Court against author (and former company coo) Larry Johnson and publisher Vanguard Press, seeking a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order blocking today’s publication of his book FROZEN: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception and Death. After hearing oral arguments on Monday, Judge James Yates denied the motion, unwilling to exercise prior restraint. The book received pre-publication attention over the weekend following reports that the book alleges the Arizona cryonics business mistreated the frozen head of former baseball great Ted Williams, hitting his head with […]
FTC Requires Bloggers, Posters, and the Companies Who Woo Them to Disclose Free Review Copies
The Federal Trade Commission officially revised its “guides” which govern endorsements and testimonials, aimed squarely at the universe of online and word-of-mouth recommendations. The new rules have all the clarity you would expect from an 81-page government document , and in many instances they are either opaque, noxious or just ridiculous (the FTC wants disclosure within tweets as well). The main point of essence for book publishers, and book bloggers and online reviewers, is the determination that “bloggers may be subject to different disclosure requirements than reviewers in traditional media.” They judge that “a blogger’s statement on his personal blog […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, October 5
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 Urban Waite’s THE TERROR OF LIVING, involving a drug deal gone […]