James Patterson has followed up on his pledge to donate $1 million to support independent bookstores this year with an initial list of 55 stores that are receiving donations (worth $267,000 so far far). As noted in the announcement, “Some stores have submitted proposals for how the money will be used; others will simply receive an unsolicited check and a note from the author, encouraging them to use the funds to continue doing the good work they already do.” The release indicates “Patterson selected recipient stores by researching which stores are doing the very best work in their communities to […]
Archives for February 2014
People, Etc.
At MacGregor Literary, Holly Lorincz has been promoted to agent. She will focus on representing contemporary and historical romance, political or conspiracy thrillers, women’s fiction, literary fiction, and both literary and classic westerns. Graphic Arts Books announced it recently acquired Companion Press, the Bozeman, MT-based photographic publisher, to expand its Graphic Arts Books and WestWinds Press imprints. Companion Press publisher Jane Freeburg, who founded the company in 1987, will stay on. “The Companion Press list gives us a well-established and respected presence in California as well as representative titles in the Southwest, Northwest, Alaska, and the Rockies.”said Graphic Arts Books publishing […]
Awards: New Cohen Prize, LAT Nominees, and More
The first two winners were named for a new prize honoring the late bookseller Carla Furstenberg Cohen, a co-founder of Washington, DC’s Politics & Prose bookstore. Anthony Marra (author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena) and Marra and David Finkel (Thank You for Your Service) will each receive a $5,000 prize, to be presented at Politics & Prose in May. The prizes were established by Cohen’s family and close friends. Contenders were drawn from books featured in two seasonal newsletters from the bookstore, and jurors “represent readers who have been part of the Politics & Prose community and reflect the values that Carla Cohen brought to the […]
People, Etc.
At William Morrow, Kate Nintzel has been promoted to executive editor. At Candlewick, Mary Lee Donovan has been promoted to editorial director. At becker&mayer!, Dana Youlin has been promoted to editorial manager, Delia Greve has been promoted to senior editor, and Nicole Burns Ascue is now associate editor. In the UK, Anna Valentine will re-join Orion in May as publishing director, non-fiction, reporting to Amanda Harris, newly promoted to deputy publisher. Valentine was most recently publishing director at HarperCollins UK. Mavis Gallant, 91, one of Canada’s most distinguished short story writers and literary figures, died Tuesday morning in Paris, where […]
Forthcoming: Rowling’s Next, As Galbraith, Set for Publication on June 24; New Murakami Novel Arriving August 12; and More
J.K. Rowling’s second crime novel written as Robert Galbraith, THE SILKWORM, will be published on June 24 by Little, Brown in the US and the UK. The book again features private detective Cormoran Strike and assistant Robin Ellacott as they investigate the murder of a novelist who has “just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows.” Rowling will also appear at the Harrogate Crime Festival on July 18 in conversation with Val McDermid (also published by Little, Brown UK) in her only scheduled appearance to promote THE SILKWORM. Separately, Little, Brown announced that it will publish […]
The Truth About eBook Sales (Part 2): The Market Is Flat, and Self-Publishing Isn’t Big Enough to Change That
This is the follow-up post to Friday’s examination of The Discussion Over “Author Earnings.” Let’s use this opportunity to speak clearly about what we do know about the ebook sales landscape, since there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the data that’s available. The worst meme around is the one in which the real and substantial data we have is dismissed for its incompleteness, in favor of people’s personal wishes and observances. The big touchpoints are the direction of the ebook market, and the rise of digital self-publishing. On the former, the US market data clearly indicates that […]