Will Smith‘s book, written with Mark Manson, will be titled Will and published by Penguin Press on November 9. Katie Couric will have a live tour promoting Going There, publishing October 26. Produced by Live Nation, the tour opens at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston on October 28 and will visit 11 cities.
More on Frankfurt
The European Union has finally agreed to recommend that member states lift travel restrictions on visitors from the US, though individual countries will still be able to set their own requirements. But at least the possibility of visiting Europe for a trade show has become easier, if that’s on your agenda. For the record, the Frankfurt Book Fair has asked us to point to their statement (our italics added) that, “Visitors must provide a report of their current health status on the day of entry (more details will be provided when you purchase a ticket). Depending on the regulations in […]
Bolton Gets to Keep the Money
Memorialized in a brief filing with the Federal Court of Wednesday, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice dropped the Trump administration’s witch hunt against former National Security Advisor John Bolton. They dismissed the civil lawsuit looking to recover Bolton’s earnings from publishing THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED without formal, written clearance from the government. And according to Bolton’s lawyer, the government also dropped a grand jury investigation over the book’s publication. Previously, US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth had indicated a strong inclination to support the government’s case, though full evidence had not yet been presented. Earlier this year, Lamberth […]
Good Changes
We are quietly at work on site changes and new initiatives all the time and it has been a particularly busy stretch recently. Sometimes those changes are subtle and occasionally they are unavoidable. Some time very soon — perhaps as soon as next week — you’re going to open your Lunch and it will look different. And better. So don’t be too surprised!
McGraw Hill to be Sold to Platinum Equity
Private equity firm Apollo Global’s long journey with McGraw Hill is coming to an end, with an agreement to sell the publisher to yet another private equity company, Platinum Equity. The deal is valued at $4.5 billion including debt. With debt at the end of 2020 of about $2.23 billion, it means the new owner is actually spending (or further borrowing) about $2.25 billion, and taking on about that much in existing debt. McGraw Hill’s planned merger with Cengage was abandoned in May 2020 after facing objections from regulators in the US and UK. Prior to that, the company had […]
Funding: BookClub Raises Again
After announcing $6 million in seed funding last September, BookClub has now raised a $20 million Series A financing. The round was led by Signal Peak Ventures — which was joined by GSV Ventures, Maveron, Backstage Capital and Pelion Venture Partner, along with MasterClass co-founded Aaron Rasmussen and Goodreads co-founder Otis Chandler. The service has been in private beta, but expects to open to the public in July. TechCrunch says they are still “experimenting with two services to bring author-led discussions to readers.” One is a traditional interview-style format with the author; another has viewers “click through videos as they […]