Last week France’s Fayard announced the promotion of literary editor Isabelle Saporta to ceo of the house — part of Hachette Livre — following the surprise departure in March of highly-regarded longtime ceo Sophie de Closets. In response to Saporta’s promotion, and as part of the continuing reaction to the de Closets’ departure and the pending completion of Vivendi’s acquisition of as much of Lagardere as the European Commission will allow, five well-known Fayard authors announced they will no longer publish with the house. The most successful is novelist Virginie Grimaldi, who announced online, “My values and my beliefs are […]
ABA Membership Counts Grow Again: “The rise in BIPOC stores is a big change for us”
The ABA releases their latest membership through the AP, per tradition. (The data is usually announced at the organization’s annual meeting — which was postponed this year from May to mid-July.) CEO Allison Hill said the organization has 2,010 members now, operating 2,524 locations, well up from last year’s counts of 1,700 members and 2,100 locations. Hill “attributes some of the rise to owners who delayed renewing their memberships early in 2021, reflecting uncertainty about the pandemic’s impact.” They also tallied “well over 100” new stores that opened within the last year, “dozens of them owned by people from a wider […]
James Patterson Posts Brief Apology for Racism Remark
Following his widely criticized interview in The Times, James Patterson posted an apology. He wrote on social media: “I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.”
More Data For You, In Context
As you may have noticed, we recently expanded our Dealmakers pages with the addition of a “sales” tab. For the agents and other publishing professionals who get annual Bookscan service through PM, this new feature displays actual Bookscan and PubTrack Digital sales data within tens of thousands of deal records, unlocking a significant body of data and putting it in context. It also makes a wealth of Bookscan data more accessible by embedding it in our interface. Beyond that, all PM members get to benefit from this capability. While only our Bookscan subscribers can see the actual data, the new […]
Judge Finalizes Order Finding Maryland’s Library eBook Lending Law Unconstitutional, with No Need for A Permanent Injunction
Federal Judge Deborah L. Boardman finalized her order granting declaratory judgment in favor of the AAP, declaring the state of Maryland’s library ebook lending “unconstitutional and unenforceable because it conflicts with and is preempted by the Copyright Act…. The Maryland Act is unconstitutional and unenforceable.” At the same time, Judge Boardman found that “such declaratory relief obviates the need for a permanent injunction” in addition, even though the AAP had argued for that additional measure. The order follows the judge’s quick imposition of a temporary injunction blocking the Maryland law in February. In her reasoning, Judge Boardman agreed with the […]
UTA to Acquire Curtis Brown UK
United Talent Agency (UTA) announced Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Curtis Brown UK, which will continue to operate under its current name, still run by ceo Jonny Geller. The announcement proclaims, “This structure will allow both Curtis Brown Group and UTA to continue their fruitful and longstanding relationships with other agency partners in the UK and US,” though that is ultimately up to those other agencies who use UTA and Curtis Brown as a sub-agent. Curtis Brown UK has over 240 employees across all divisions, including its production arms, and “is expected to continue to […]