Senior editor of the New York Times Book Review (and husband of novelist Amy Waldman) Alexander Star will join Farrar, Straus and Giroux as a senior editor on April 2. Before moving to the book review, Star was deputy editor of the NYT Magazine. Earlier in his career he was founding editor of the Boston Globe’s Ideas section and editor of Lingua Franca: The Review of Academic Life. At Canada’s Douglas & McIntyre, co-founder Scott McIntyre will give up his role as CEO on July 1, though he will remain actively involed and continue as chairman. Current director, operations and […]
Archives for March 2012
Random House Raises eBook Wholesale Prices Significantly
Random House announced their library ebook pricing, effective as of March 1, which will dampen some of the enthusiasm for the house’s commitment to the “unrestricted and perpetual availability of our complete frontlist and backlist of Random House, Inc.” in ebook form. The new prices, which librarians tell The Digital Shift represent up to a tripling, are calibrated to “bring our titles in price-point symmetry with our Books on Tape audio book downloads for library lending. These long have carried a considerably higher purchase price point than our digital audio books purchased for individual consumption.” The new price structure for […]
Cheryl Strayed’s Wild Tops April Indie Next List
Here are the April picks: #1. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheyrl Strayed The Cove: A Novel, by Ron Rash The Book of Jonas: A Novel, by Stephen Dau Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art, by Christopher Moore Angelmaker: A Novel, by Nick Harkaway The Gods of Gotham: A Novel, by Lyndsay Faye The Beginner’s Goodbye: A Novel, by Anne Tyler The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O’Melveny The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac: A Novel, by Kris D’Agostino Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, by Anne Lamott, […]
Random House Canada Moves to Agency Model
Exactly a year after Random House started selling ebooks on the agency model in the US, Random House Canada has done likewise, effective March 1. The company said in a brief announcement, “The agency model guarantees a higher margin for retailers than did our previous sales terms. We are making this change both as an investment in the successful digital transition of our existing partners and in order to give us the opportunity to forge new retail relationships. We are looking forward to continuing to work with all our retail partners – both digital and physical – on our joint […]
People, Etc.
Jack Scovil, a literary agent for more than 40 years and founding partner of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, died last week after a brief illness. He was 74. Scovil began his career and spent 20 years at the Scott Meredith Agency, leaving in 1992 to start the agency with Russell Galen and then-partner Ted Chicack. Among the authors Scovil worked with during his career included Norman Mailer, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, Walter Anderson, Edward Klein, Larry Smith, Margaret Truman, and James Brady. Scovil was active in the firm’s affairs and the representation of his own clients until the […]
No Sterling Sale for Now
After a lengthy process of soliciting offers to purchase Sterling Publishing, run by investment bank Broadwater & Associates, the targeted completion date of February 29 has come and gone, apparently with no deal in place. People familiar with the bidding process indicate that although there was at least one interested publisher until recently, that company withdrew and there are currently no offers on the table. Sources familiar with the offering cited a number of factors as potential complications to a sale, including a decline in Sterling’s sales through parent company Barnes & Noble’s stores, the separate negotiation of Barnes & […]