James Patterson’s latest experiment releases today on a new platform, Facebook Messenger. THE CHEF, set in New Orleans, is an enhanced digital novel about a police detective — who runs the Killer Chef food truck at night with his ex-wife — who is under investigation for a murder he is accused of committing in the line of duty. The digital experience is free, presented in English and available throughout the world, with a traditional, full-length print version of the story to follow on February 18, 2019 (written with Max DiLallo). For Facebook Messenger Patterson has revived — or in his […]
Archives for October 2018
Medallion Press Files for Liquidation
Earlier this month Medallion Press filed papers in a Northern Illinois Bankruptcy Court for a voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The filing says “the company is presently experiencing financial difficulties due, in part, to the difficulties facing the publishing industry.” The publisher’s principal asset is $254,000 in inventory in the warehouse of their distributor Ingram Publisher Services (Medallion had been a Legato/Perseus client), along with $67,000 in cash. The liquidated inventory and cash need to cover an estimated $111,000 in unsecured claims. Filing
AAP Shows Trade Gains Over First Three Quarters of 2018
The AAP reported monthly StatShot statistics for September — as well as cumulative data for the first three quarters of the year. (If you’re thinking this is quick/early; you are right. The AAP has done a good job of picking up the pace in timely reporting of their monthly data during the year, now with the shortest lag we have seen.) A modest September report — adult trade sales were down $7 million, while children’s/young adult trade sales were up $19.5 million, putting the total of $718.5 million up less than 2 percent — completed a good third quarter. As […]
People, Etc.: A New S&S Imprint, and More
Simon & Schuster is launching a new imprint, Avid Reader Press, inspired by “the spirit invoked” in former Simon & Schuster editor-in-chief Robert Gottlieb’s memoir Avid Reader, with its first titles launching in late 2019 or early 2020. Jofie Ferrari-Adler will serve as vice president and publisher of the new line, and Ben Loehnen is vice president and editor in chief, both moving over from their current positions as executive editors at S&S. They will hire “at least one more senior editorial partner who will specialize in fiction, while also building a dedicated staff across editorial, publicity, and marketing.” Ferrari-Adler and Loehnen […]
Bookselling: Waterstones’ Concept Store, The Strand and Its Union, and More
Waterstones unveiled a new concept store, expanding its space in Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping center by a third, now 4,900 square feet. The store is “now able to accommodate a wider range of merchandise such as gifts, games, diaries and calendars” and features “a large area dedicated to celebrating local writers, poets and history.” Elizabeth Young, who owns online bookstore Lizzyoung Bookseller is opening a brick and mortar store in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn dedicated to “cooking, cocktails, and culture.” The store is set to open in December. Bibliophile, a new bookstore and dessert bar, opened in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Co-owners Brennan Nichols […]
Best of 2018 Lists Begin with Publishers Weekly, Indigo
Publishers Weekly named its best books of 2018, in a number of categories. Their overall top ten leads with Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry, Tara Westover’s Educated, and Kiese Laymon’s Heavy. The rest of the list: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, by Alexander Chee Insurrecto, by Gina Apostol The Largess of the Sea Maiden, by Denis Johnson Melmoth, by Sarah Perry Reagan, by Bob Spitz The Shape of Ruins, by Juan Gabriel Vasquez She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, by Carl Zimmer Indigo also announced their Best of 2018 list earlier in the month, naming Westover’s Educated the best book of the […]