With about 50 “votes” counted, we are closing in on our final aggregations of the very best of the “best books of the year,” now with full lists in all of our tracked categories. The fiction picks remain dominant, in keeping with the year’s sales and mood, and Percival Everett’s JAMES towers above all others. The rest of the adult lists are pretty firm at this point, with a little room at the bottom, particularly among nonfiction. Next week we’ll share the PM staff’s own picks and at the end of the week we will publish the final lists, with editor, […]
Sourcebooks Audio to Launch In 2025
In January a new Sourcebooks Audio line will release its first titles, initially producing audio versions of mysteries from Poisoned Pen Press and romance novels from Sourcebooks Casablanca, as well as nonfiction from the Callisto imprint. Catherine Bucaria is vp, publisher of Sourcebooks Audio, having previously served as director of audio strategy & acquisitions at Penguin Random House, and Almeda Beynon is director of audio production, after working as executive producer of audio at Harper Collins. The Sourcebook Audio lines will operate as imprints within Penguin Random House Audio. (PRH owns 75 percent of Sourcebooks, though the publisher operates independently.) […]
Friendly Skies
We stopped posting at the Bad Place a long time ago, when it became clear that the algorithm demanded payment — either in cash or provocative “engagement” — to actually reach any of your “followers.” So it has been a pleasure to watch a real community emerge again over at BlueSky, where we have started to share publishing news again. And we have loved seeing so many authors using the platform to share their deal report screenshots. Join us if you like: @publisherslunch.bsky.social
Agency News: Einstein Joins Dunow, Carlson & Lerner
As of January 1, 2025, Susanna Einstein will join Dunow, Carlson & Lerner as an agent, as will her colleague Susan Graham. Einstein has run Einstein Literary Management since 2015. (Prior to that, she was a partner in Einstein Thompson Agency, which was the successor to LJK Literary Management.) Einstein says in the announcement: “I’ve loved building my company over the past decade, but with the ongoing changes in publishing, and the isolation of our post-pandemic work-life, I’m more than ready for the collegiality of a larger group. I’ve known Jen, Henry, and Betsy for many years and have long […]
New Books Publishing December 10
As the year draws to a close, we are running out of new releases. Here are the titles debuting for the rest of the month, including fiction from Katie Holt, Darby Kane, P.J. Nelson, and more, and nonfiction by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele and Olivia Campbell. 20 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-through-december 5 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-through-december 15 children’s titles https://bookshop.org/lists/december-2024-children-s-releases We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming months on Bookshop. Check out January‘s 80 fiction releases, 38 […]
Vivendi Spin-Off Plan Is Approved, and Lagardere Stake will Trade As Louis Hachette Group
Vivendi shareholders approved the company’s plan to break up the conglomerate into multiple parts, with new stock listings later this month for the Canal+ broadcasting assets, the advertising agency Havas, and a newly-named Louis Hachette Group. That Louis Hachette Group will comprise Vivendi’s controlling 66.5 percent stake in Lagardere (which includes both Lagardere Publishing as well as the big travel retail division), alongside Prisma Media, France’s leading magazine publisher. The Bolloré Group, which currently controls Vivendi, will own roughly 31 percent of the Louis Hachette Group, which will begin trading on the Euronext Growth (Paris) stock exchange on December 16, […]