Alan Bradley’s AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST, the latest in his Flavia de Luce mystery series, is the No. 1 pick for the January Library Reads list. The rest of the list recommends: The Rosie Effect, by Graeme Simsion The Magician’s Lie, by Greer Macallister The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins Golden Son: Book II of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag The Bishop’s Wife, by Mette Ivie Harrison Vanessa and Her Sister, by Priya Parmar First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen Full Throttle by Julie Ann […]
Archives for December 2014
Digital: News from KU, Kobo, Scribd and Curtis Brown UK
Amazon has launched Kindle Unlimited in France and Brussels. Kobo is bringing “three-for-two” deals from the trade paperback tables to the ebookstore — starting with a promotion in the US with Hachette Book Group, good only through December 15. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is now participating in Scribd‘s ebook subscription service. (HMH is one of the few trade publishers actively participating in Kindle Unlimited as well.) Curtis Brown UK is launching another digital publishing initiative next March, called Studio 28, covered here by the Bookseller as if it’s the agency’s first run at such a venture. They expect to publish 12 […]
People, Etc.
At Simon & Schuster, Brit Hvide has been promoted to associate editor. Sarah Bloxham has left Bonnier Publishing UK, where she was publisher of Weldon Owen, and is “available for work on a permanent, contract or consultancy basis.” She can be reached at bloxham.sarah@googlemail.com. Barbara Casey has joined Strategic Media Books as partner, and will be involved in acquisitions and company operations, and oversee book production. She also continues as president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Jesse Aylen has been promoted to assistant editor, Crown Archetype and Three Rivers Press. Cindy Whittemore has rejoined Alive Literary Agency as contracts director, working out of her home […]
Sales Drop 18 Percent at Faber In “Tough” Market for UK Indies
2013 was a rough year for many UK independents, leading to the sale of Quercus to Little Brown UK, the reorganization of Atlantic Books (with Allen and Unwin taking a majority stake) and the sale of some of Osprey Publishing’s lines, to cite a few examples. Similarly, Faber and Faber has now announced results for the fiscal year ending March 2014, with sales falling 18 percent to £16.26 million and earnings swinging from more than £2 million in the previous year (when Faber had “record results”) to a small loss of £5,000. And the company says “market conditions have continued […]
Moonves: Simon & Schuster Is “A Little Gem”
Right at the end of a 50-minute interview at the UBS investor conference earlier this week, CBS ceo Les Moonves spoke briefly about Simon & Schuster’s recent negotiations with Amazon. Asked, “what’s changing with the new deal?,” Moonves gave a thoroughly non-specific answer: “We’re not allowed to really talk about it; we’ve gotten in trouble with S&S before, but let’s put it this way: I think Carolyn Reidy and her team did a phenomenal job. There clearly was a logjam with Hachette and Amazon and I think we were able to get a place where it’s much more reasonable for […]
People, Etc.
Suzanne Donahue will leave Simon & Schuster, where she is vp, associate publisher, on December 27. She had held that position for the past two years, and before then was associate publisher at Free Press from 1997 through 2012. S&S publisher Jonathan Karp said in a statement: “In the past two years, I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working with Suzanne. She has been an excellent colleague and an enthusiastic champion of our books, as well as a source of wisdom on Free Press and Simon & Schuster backlist. Please join me in thanking Suzanne for her many contributions to Simon […]