Thomas Nelson will publish a children’s edition of Todd Burpo & Lynn Vincent’s bestseller HEAVEN IS FOR REAL on November 9, priced at $14.99. The book has sold over 2 million copies and spent the past 17 weeks at #1 on the NYT non-fiction bestseller list. The new edition, titled HEAVEN IS FOR REAL FOR KIDS, will include illustrations by Wilson Ong, a Q&A for children and a prayer page. In related news, Sony Pictures has acquired film rights to the book, with Joe Roth and T.D. Jakes slated to produce. Roth told Deadline he became curious about HEAVEN IS […]
Archives for May 2011
People, Etc.
Stephanie Hargadon joins St. Martin’s as senior publicist on May 16. Previously she was associate publicist at Macmillan Audio/Macmillan Young Listeners. In editorial promotions at Simon & Schuster Children’s, Kiley Frank has been promoted to associate editor at Atheneum; Amy Currier is assistant managing editor; and Emily Fabre is assistant editor, Margaret K. McElderry Books. In the art department, Giuseppe Castellano is now art director for Little Simon; John Daly is associate art director for Simon Spotlight; Jessica Handelman is associate art director for Pulse and Aladdin; Lauren Rille is associate art director; Laura Roode is senior designer; and Nick Sciacca […]
Thoughts from Makinson, Meacham
The WSJ interviews Penguin CEO John Makinson. On self-published Kindle bestsellers priced at $2.99 or less, Makinson says, “This is a new market that can’t exist economically in print. You can’t manufacture, ship and store a book at those prices. But we as publishers probably need to participate. We’ll look at new content that maybe we can popularize in different ways. We’ll also look at our backlist. Maybe there are customers for westerns at $1.99. What we need to be really careful of is ensuring that this new market doesn’t compromise the sales of Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell […]
S&S Debuts Book Battle, a “Social Voting” Facebook App
S&S announced a new Facebook app called Book Battle, which they describe as a “social voting application” and “a fun way to engage with their favorite books and authors on all manner of book-related topics” but which the NYT more succinctly describes as “a literary version of hotornot.com.” The inaugural matchup features two YA novels by Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, and app users will be able to vote on their favorite of the two books, and which characters they prefer. Other match-ups at launch will feature the UGLIES series by Scott Westerfield and the NIGHT […]
Bookselling: New Amazon Fulfillment Centers; Additional REDGroup Layoffs; and More
Amazon will expand nearly double the size of its fulfillment center in Phoenix, adding approximately 400,000-square feet to the facility. The company will also open a nearly 900,000 square foot fulfillment center in Indianapolis (and add several hundred permanent and seasonal jobs in the process), its third facility in the state. Release On Friday REDGroup Retail cut 25 jobs at its distribution warehouse in Melbourne, with another 14 employees let go at the company’s headquarters in Australia. Five remaining warehouse staff will continue to work for another two weeks before the facility closes, while the head count at headquarters is down […]
Mortenson Sued for Fraud and Racketeering; Class-Action Status Is Sought
While Montana’s Attorney General looks into Greg Mortenson’s dealings with his charity CAI, two state lawmakers–Rep. Michele Reinhart of Missoula to buy the book and Rep. Jean Price of Great Falls–filed suit in a Missoula Federal Court against Mortenson, alleging fraud. They claim they “purchased the book because of his heart-wrenching story which he said was true,” says their attorney Alexander Blewett. “If people had known all of this was fabricated, they would not have given the money.” The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status and have asked the judge to creative a “constructive trust” to be “administered by a court-appointed […]