Late Thursday morning, Amazon finally commented on their error the dispatched some copies of Margaret Atwood’s new book to customers a week before the embargoed international release date: “Due to a technical error a small number of customers were inadvertently sent copies of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. We apologize for this error; we value our relationship with authors, agents, and publishers, and regret the difficulties this has caused them and our fellow booksellers.”
Archives for September 2019
Wiley Q1 2020 Reflects Continued Softness in Educational Publishing
Wiley reported earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2020, ending July 30, with sales of $423.5 million. Results were $12.6 million higher than a year ago, but that includes $15 million in revenues from the acquisition of ZyBooks in July. The company took a restructuring charge of $11 million for severance and other costs as part of their “multi-year business optimization program.” (That’s actually below the forecast of a $15 million to $20 million charge in the quarter. On the investor call, cfo and evp John Kritzmacher said the lower charge reflects more work to be done on their […]
People, Etc.
Hisae Matsuda has been promoted to publisher at Parallax Press. Jenny Hewson will join Lutyens & Rubinstein as associate agent starting September 23. She was with Rogers, Coleridge and White. Chrysothemis Armefti has been promoted to senior agent at 2 Seas Agency. Springer Nature Group has promoted chief commercial officer Frank Vrancken Peeters to ceo, as Daniel Ropers leaves the company, “per his agreement with the Board, having ensured a smooth transition with his Springer Nature colleague.” Peeters joined the company two years ago. Bookselling Toronto’s Ben McNally Books in Toronto will vacate its space “at some point during 2020” […]
Woodson’s Red at the Bone Tops October Indie Next List
The ABA named Jacqueline Woodson’s novel Red at the Bone as its No. 1 pick for October. Also on the list are Stephen Chbosky’s Imaginary Friend, Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars, and Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School, all excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 Fall/Winter. The rest of the picks: The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett Ninth House, by Leigh Bardugo Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates The World That We Knew, by Alice Hoffman Celestial Bodies, by Jokha Alharthi A Cosmology of Monsters, by Shaun Hamill The Butterfly Girl, […]
Too Big to Punish? Amazon Ships Atwood’s The Testaments A Week Early
Amazon shipped at least some copies of Margaret Atwood’s much-anticipated The Testaments to some customers a full week early, in violation of the strict worldwide September 10 embargo. On Twitter and Instagram, several users reported receiving their early copies. A spokesperson for Penguin Random House told PL, “A very small number of copies of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments were distributed early due to a retailer error which has now been rectified. We appreciate that readers and booksellers have been waiting patiently for the much-anticipated sequel to the bestselling The Handmaid’s Tale. In order to ensure our readers around the world […]
More September Picks: Jenna Reads and Apple Books
Jenna Bush Hager’s September pick for the Today Show Book Club is The Dearly Beloved, by Cara Wall. Apple Books‘ best of September includes: The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett The Future of Another Time, by Annalee Newitz The Liar, by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen Slay, by Brittney Morris The Water Dancer, by Ta-Hehisi Coates The World That We Knew, by Alice Hoffman Wrapped Up in You, by Jill Shalvis Gallows Court, by Martin Edwards Nice Try, by Josh Gondelman Red at the Bone, by Jacqueline Woodson Billion Dollar Fantasy, by Albert Chen Everything is Figureoutable, by Marie Forleo Pet, by Akwaeke […]