Scott Miller has been promoted to executive vice president of Trident Media Group. Johnathan Wilber has been promoted to assistant editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. At Rizzoli, Linda Pricci has been promoted to marketing manager, creative services and social/new media.
Archives for January 2011
Grand Central Thriller Authors to Promote Each Other
Grand Central is trying a new kind of free ebook giveaway, cross-promoting two titles with each other. So the ebook of Brad Meltzer’s new book THE INNER CRICLE will include a free edition of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s 2002 novel The Cabinet of Curiosities, and the ebook of Preston and Child’s new title GIDEON’S SWORD will include Meltzer’s 2005 book The Zero Game. The publisher says the idea began with a suggestion from Preston and Child to Meltzer: “Doug and Lincoln emailed me and asked. They thought it would be a great way for us to thank readers while […]
Deals, On (ebrary) and Off (Busted Flush)
Separately, long-term epublishing survivor from the first internet/ebook bubble ebrary has found a suitor after 11 years, agreeing to an acquisition by ProQuest. ebrary founders Christopher Warnock and Kevin Sayar will stay on in the company’s Palo Alto offices.Release Tyrus Books announced on their website yesterday that their tentative agreement to acquire Busted Flush Press has been terminated following Thompson’s unexpected death last year. They write “the continued process of settling Mr. Thompson’s estate necessitated substantial reconsideration and subsequent termination of the proposed deal.” Thompson’s widow McKenna Jordan “will assume full legal and financial control of Busted Flush Press.” Post
US Court Dismisses Harry Potter Suit from Willy the Wizard Heirs
US Southern District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed a lawsuit brought the estate of Adrian Jacobs, author of the 1987 book Willy the Wizard, alleging that his copyright was infringed by HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. Judge Scheindlin concluded that “the contrast between the total concept and feel of the works is so stark that any serious comparison of the two strains credulity.” A similar, earlier lawsuit in the UK against Bloomsbury and JK Rowling was allowed to go forward last October if the estate paid money as security for the costs (since in the UK, the loser pays). […]
Evison Tops February Indie Next List
#1 February Pick: West of Here: A Novel, by Jonathan Evison Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, by Conor Grennan You Know When the Men Are Gone, by Siobhan Fallon The Fates Will Find Their Way: A Novel, by Hannah Pittard The Weird Sisters: A Novel, by Eleanor Brown The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore: A Novel, by Benjamin Hale A Discovery of Witches: A Novel, by Deborah Harkness The Death Instinct: A Novel, by Jed Rubenfeld Agent X: A Novel, by Noah Boyd Swamplandia!: A Novel, by Karen Russell The Red Garden, by […]
BN December Store Comps Were Up Almost 13%; BN.com Gains 67 Percent Over Holidays
As promised, Barnes & Noble released a somewhat more detailed report on holiday sales this morning for the nine-week period ending January 1. The company’s bookstores had their “best [holiday] comparable store sales performance in more than a decade,” up 9.7 percent on a same-store basis and 8.2 percent overall. For December alone, comp sales rose even more, at 12.8 percent. While Nook devices accounted for much of the increase, the company says “physical book sales, especially hardcover books, were better than expected,” and their expanded toys & games department increased sales by 48 percent. Total holiday store sales were […]