Dennis Prager is the latest author to ask for attention by claiming ideological persecution when he did not appear on the New York Times best seller list — even though his publisher Regnery famously proclaimed last year it would no longer refer to the Times lists in its marketing and promotion. (On the one hand,…
Bezos Reveals Amazon Stats — On Prime Members, and Big Kindle Earners
Amazon ceo Jeff Bezos released his annual shareholder letter on Wednesday, revealing for the first time that has more than 100 million paid Prime members globally. In another, less widely-reported statistic, Bezos wrote that over 1,000 Kindle Direct Publishing authors earned over $100,000 in royalties in 2017 (thus comprising over $100 million). Beyond that, third-party…
Regan Says HarperCollins Would Not Allow Janice Dickinson to Accuse Bill Cosby of Rape In Memoir
Publisher Judith Regan testified in the retrial of Bill Cosby on sexual-assault charges in Norristown, PA on Wednesday, supporting Janice Dickinson’s account that she had long claimed Cosby raped her, even though that’s not what her 2002 memoir No Lifeguard on Duty said. “I remember at one point she [Dickinson] told me she’d been raped…
Former Perseus Executives Sue to Collect Sale Bonuses
In mid-March, the three top former executives of the Perseus Books Group — ceo David Steinberger, cfo Charles Gallagher and cmo Rick Joyce — sued Perseus Books, LLC and Centre Lane Partners, the private equity company that had owned the publisher, in New York State Supreme Court. They are seeking payment of additional stay bonuses…
Rudin Countersues Lee Estate, Wants to Perform Mockingbird for the Court
Scott Rudin’s production company Rudinplay has countersued the estate of Harper Lee and its representative Tonja Carter in a New York Federal Court, as part of their response to the lawsuit filed against Rudin in March in an Alabama Federal Court looking for a judgment that the planned Broadway adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird…
Springer Nature Formalizes Frankfurt IPO
In line with lengthy preparations, academic publisher Springer Nature formally announced plans to list shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, looking to raise approximately €1.2 billion in proceeds. Timing was not announced, but in Germany shares usually start trading four weeks after an IPO is announced. Holtzbrinck, currently a 53 percent owner, will retain all of…