James Patterson spoke to The Times in promoting his recently-released memoir: “Today, though, he worries that it is hard for white men to get writing gigs in film, theatre, TV or publishing. “The problem is ‘just another form of racism. What’s that all about?’ he muses. ‘Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.’ “Patterson disapproves of actors and public figures spouting off ignorantly about subjects they have gleaned off the internet, but says, ‘I’m almost always on the side of free speech.’ He was […]
NYT Begins to Clarify Reporting that Relates to Book Research, Continues to “Prioritize Newsworthy Information” For Readers
Ever since Bob Woodward waited until the September release of his book RAGE to break the news that he first learned in February 2020 Donald Trump already knew Covid-19 was far deadlier than the flu — even as he was publicly dismissing Covid-19 as a non-issue — media critics and general readers have been increasingly questioning similar instances in which timely and relevant information is uncovered by journalists but held for publication until their books release. So it’s a potential bellwether initiative that the New York Times is more actively evaluating when and how to share and contextualize book-related reporting […]
What Ingram Learned Studying 150,000 Titles on Amazon for Three Years
The Ingram Consumer Insights team has a terrific analysis detailing observations from studying the sales of 150,000 titles on Amazon over a three-year period. They chart how Amazon’s “lost” buy boxes for books (which send preferred sales to third-parties) directly correlate to supply chain issues, from the onset of the pandemic to periods of printing shortages. (Unfortunately the study period ends in August 2021, so it does not show us the most recent holiday selling season or any other recent changes.) In normal times, about 25 percent of buy boxes go to third-parties — though the leading winner of those […]
Vivendi Owns 55 Percent of Lagardere Following First Tender
Vivendi and Lagardere confirmed in separate releases that approximately 11 million shares in Lagardere were tendered during the first round of Vivendi’s buyout offer, giving it 55.43 percent of the share capital in Lagardere. A second round of the main tender offer opens May 27 and closes on June 9, still at the offer price of 25 euros a share. Thereafter, during a subsidiary period until the end of 2023, shareholders can tender their stock for the lower price of 24.10 euros a share. (They will still receive dividends during that time until shares are tendered; the higher, early offer […]
Literary Agent Mort Janklow Dies at 91
Chairman and co-founder of Janklow & Nesbit Associates, Morton L. Janklow died Wednesday morning at home in Water Mill, NY from heart failure. An attorney, he launched his career as a literary agent in 1972 when his friend and client, William Safire, asked him to handle a book he was writing about Richard Nixon. As the agency adds in a release, “When the Watergate scandal broke and the book’s publisher, William Morrow, tried to back out of the contract, Janklow sued, ushering in a new era of authors’ rights; he later sold the book to Doubleday. ‘We took the publisher […]
When Down Might Still be Up
It’s hard for a lot people — sometimes especially in the media — to keep in their heads different and nuanced ideas about statistics at the same time. But following the state of the trade market this year likely involves juggling a few different measures that do not necessarily align neatly. Our simplest, clearest weekly read on the market only tells us so much: NPD Bookscan has reported that US print book sales have been quite stable for the past five weeks, consistently running at 6 percent below the levels reached this time a year ago — and still 16 […]