Australian author Kate Morton, author of a number of internationally bestselling novels including The Shifting Fog and The Lake House, and her former agent Selwa Anthony have sued each other over the fate of future commissions from Morton’s backlist. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, which obtained Anthony’s original lawsuit and Morton’s counter-claim, the conflict began when Morton fired Anthony in December 2015 after more than 10 years of representation. Morton then retained Lizzy Kremer at David Higham Associates, to represent new and future works and also to “manage the royalty flow from her backlist.” Anthony sued Morton, claiming the pair […]
Archives for February 2017
People
At Picador USA, executive director of publicity James Meader will give up his additional role as publicist-at-large at Holt to focus exclusively on Picador. In addition, Molly Fessenden has been promoted to marketing associate. Molly Jaffa, currently subsidiary rights manager and literary agent at Folio Literary Management, will join Mary Anne Thompson Associates as a senior scout on March 7. Amy Nathanson Heaslip has joined the Highlights for Children retail group as managing editor. Most recently, Heaslip was executive editor at Studio Fun International. Former vice president Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden have signed with CAA for representation “across […]
Next to Close: Samhain Publishing
Nearly a year ago ebook publisher Samhain Publishing had told authors via email that it was “beginning the process of winding down due to our market share’s continuing decline” and “approaching the point where we cannot sustain our business.” Christina Brashear had written, “I won’t drag this out any longer than I have to, but it isn’t going to be something that will be wrapped up in the next six months.” Then in mid-2016 Brashear sent another notice claiming that after layoffs and adjustments it was “not liquidating its business or winding up its affairs” and would “stay fully operational” — but the original dispatch was […]
Harper Regains Some Ground In Second Quarter
News Corp. reported results for their fiscal second quarter ending December 31 on Thursday after the close of the market. They cited “meaningful revenues at HarperCollins” as the publisher’s sales rebounded to $466 million (up $20 million from a year ago) and EBITDA of $75 million (up from $57 million a year ago). Those improvements put Harper close to a more typical holiday quarter; in 2015 the holiday quarter was a weak one for them, but two years ago they had a more normal Q2 performance, with sales of $469 million and EBITDA of $77 million. Profits were helped by both sales rebound […]
A Soft Finish for 2016 At Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported fourth quarter results after the close of the market in Paris on Thursday, with publishing division sales of 619 million euros down 1.9 percent (or €12 million), “as expected,” since they published a new Asterix in France in the final quarter of 2015. Acquisitions, including Perseus, added €22 million in the quarter, while they calculated a negative €26 million foreign exchange effect. HBG USA sales were down 12.4 percent in the final quarter, “held back by a less intensive release schedule than in fourth-quarter 2015, despite further growth in audiobooks and distribution.” Full-year publishing sales were €2.264 billion […]
Tinti Leads March Library Reads List
Hannah Tinti’s novel The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley tops the March Library Reads list. The list also includes Jessica Shattuck’s The Women in the Castle, an excerpt of which you can start reading right now in Buzz Books 2017: Spring/Summer, also featured in the just-released March Buzz Books Monthly. The rest of the list features: The Wanderers, by Meg Howrey The Bone Witch, by Rin Chupeco The Hearts of Men, by Nickolas Butler Eggshells, by Catriona Lally Say Nothing, by Brad Parks The Stranger in the Woods, by Michael Finkel The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See If […]