The votes are all in and we’re ready to celebrate the consensus very best books of 2024, based on a broad collection of lists. As was plainly clear from the start, Percival Everett’s JAMES towered above all others as the consensus book of the year. In nonfiction, Hanif Abdurraqib’s THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR was a leader from the start as well, joined in the end by Salman Rushdie’s KNIFE to share the distinction of nonfiction book of the year. Liz Moore’s GOD OF THE WOODS was first featured in one of our Buzz Books samplers, and in all, 17 books […]
Archives for December 2024
People 12/19
Trump’s Lawyer Urges Court to Jumpstart Audiobook Case
Donald Trump’s lawyer Robert Garson sent two letters to to Judge Gardephe in the Southern District of New York to try to expedite his case against S&S and Bob Woodward over THE TRUMP TAPES audiobook. In the first letter on November 20, Garson urged Gardephe to schedule oral arguments — even though, as we reported recently, the judge has yet to rule on a motion to dismiss from last year and thus discovery has been stayed. He wrote, “The Court is aware that President Trump is soon due to be inaugurated as the 47th President of these United States of […]
AAP Publishers Recorded Strong Sales In October
The Association of American Publisher released StatShot data for October, reporting robust trade sales of $958 million, up 6 percent from last year. (That is the second-best October recorded by the AAP, next to the massive sales of $1.042 billion in 2021, which was the best year ever for trade book sales.) Adult book sales totaled $664 million, a 7.5 percent increase, with $324 million coming from fiction (a 17.5 percent increase) and $340 million in nonfiction (just below flat). Hardcovers grew 7 percent to $297 million and paperbacks were up 10 percent to $191 million. Adult audiobooks grew 19 […]
2024: The Year In Mergers
It was a pretty odd and modest year in mergers and acquisitions if we are being honest. Not only were there no blockbuster deals, there were very few acquisitions of any significant scale at all. There was a cluster of distress sales, however: Australian retailer was bought out of bankruptcy reorganization, as was Tattered Cover in Colorado. Barnes & Noble Education avoided delisting of its stock through a complicated refinancing that left Immersion Corporation in control. Canadian retailer Indigo went private in order to reorganize and recover, and Endeavor went private again after only a few years as a public […]
Ask an Expert: Foreign Rights Director Lyndsey Blessing
Lyndsey Blessing started her career in publishing while in college, interning in the subsidiary rights department of Grove/Atlantic. She then worked for several years at the literary scouting agency Maria B. Campbell Associates, recommending American books to publishers around the world. She also lived in Europe for a number of years, working freelance in publishing in Paris and Berlin and teaching English in Berlin. Lyndsey is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she received a BA in English and American Studies. She joined InkWell Management in 2009 as co-director of foreign rights. Could you give a little foreign […]