Michael Cader

Coming Attractions: Barbara Walters to Hit News Cycle Look for major media with the release of Barbara Walters’ book AUDITION on Tuesday, including an Oprah Winfrey feature airing that day. In a transcript from that show given to the AP, they report that “after three decades of keeping mum, Barbara Walters is disclosing a past affair with married US Senator Edward Brooke.… The first African-American to be popularly elected to the Senate. Both he and Walters knew that public knowledge of their affair could have ruined his career as well as hers, Walters says.” She explains to an interviewer at […]

Personnel News Adrian Zackheim, who launched the Penguin Group’s Portfolio imprint in 2001 and their Sentinel line in 2003, has been promoted to president and publisher of both. Associate publisher and marketing director Will Weisser has been made a vice president. Doug Grad has left HarperCollins (after 22 years on the editorial side of publishing at various houses) to start the Doug Grad Literary Agency, based in Brooklyn, as of today. And Zoe Pagnamenta is leaving PFD New York next week to start the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency. Building a Big SHACK USA Today looks at the success of William Young’s […]

Sales and Profits Both Fall at Harlequin Harlequin parent Torstar reported results for their fiscal first quarter, with book sales falling 12 percent to $110 million (CA), with operating profit was down 15 percent to $16 million. The company says the drops were smaller “excluding the impact of foreign exchange,” with North American retail sales flat, but the main reason cited is “the strong publishing schedule a year ago.” (But they also consider the big profit drop a “slight decline.”) They note: “We continue to expect modest growth from Harlequin for the year unless there is a major economic slowdown […]

Second Drop for S&S CBS reported quarterly results this morning, with sales at Simon & Schuster dropping for the second consecutive quarter, down 12 percent to $201.6 million, with operating income down 32 percent to $14.6 million. The company says “best-selling titles… did not match contributions from prior year titles” (which is exactly what they said last quarter). CEO Carolyn Reidy says that “if it weren’t for the comparison to last year, I’d say we had a darn good quarter. (THE SECRET, still on bestseller lists though without the same velocity as a year ago, comprised $53 million of worldwide […]

LAT Winners, and Festival The LAT Festival of Books began Friday night with the naming of the LAT Book Prize winners in 10 categories. Among the honorees: Fiction: Andrew O’Hagan, Be Near Me First Fiction: Dinaw Mengestu, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears Full list of winners The LAT’s book blog has multiple posts on various festival events. Jacket Copy In other awards news, and in transition to the item below, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers’ Nebula Awards were also announced on Saturday, with Michael Chabon winning for his novel THE YIDDISH POLICEMAN’S UNION. Audible Highlights Sci-Fi Audible has […]