When compiling the most recent bestseller lists last week, we noticed two different versions of Fran Littlewood’s AMAZING GRACE ADAMS charting (under two different ISBNs). There is the “original recipe” jacket, displaying a full middle finger — as well as a more TV- and retailer-friendly version, with a quote burst that covers the finger. Holt executive director of publicity Caitlin Mulrooney-Lyski writes in answer to our query, “The full finger was the primary edition, but we created the burst cover for any accounts that preferred it as well as the Today Show for the Jenna pick,” which is apparently a […]
Archives for September 2023
Francisco Partners Joins HIG Capital In RBmedia Purchase
The planned sale of RBmedia by KKR to H.I.G. Capital closed last week. In the announcement, it was disclosed that another tech-focused private equity firm, Francisco Partners, had “partnered” with H.I.G. Capital in the purchase. Francisco Partners executives Matt Spetzler and Jason Brein said in the release: “We are excited to partner with H.I.G. to help usher in RBmedia’s next phase of growth as the audiobook industry continues to expand. Francisco Partners has extensive experience in audio and content publishing, technology and media and we believe audiobooks are at a positive inflection point. Working together, our capital and operating insights […]
Obituary: Gita Mehta
Author and journalist Gita Mehta, 80, died on September 16. She was the widow of longtime Knopf editor-in-chief and Knopf Doubleday chairman Sonny Mehta.
Bookselling: New London Bookstore Title IX To Close
Title IX: A Bookstore in New London, CT will close on October 1. Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT, which is under the same ownership, will continue to operate. Both are owned by Anne Philbrick, who also owned Savoy Bookshop & Cafe in Westerly, RI, which shut down over the summer. Title IX launched as a popup in November 2020. The Bookstore Community Fund, started by Philbrick and the bookstore in 2022 to help make books more accessible for the New London community, will continue. Philbrick writes in a letter to customers, “We want to thank the community for all […]
Authors Talk: Etaf Rum
Evil Eye. (Harper, September 5, 2023. Editor: Emily Griffin. Agent: Julia Kardon, Hannigan Getzler Literary.) Etaf Rum was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY by Palestinian immigrants. She lives in North Carolina with her two children and owns a coffee shop and bookstore called Books and Beans. Her first novel, A Woman Is No Man, was a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick. How did you find your agent? Julia Kardon was kind enough to respond to my Twitter message telling her how much I loved Brit Bennett’s The Mothers and whether […]