Arcadia Publishing, a small press that focuses on hyper-local books, has entered into a deal with an unnamed tech company to use their titles for AI training, Slate reports. Arcadia reached out to authors in July to see if they wanted to opt out their titles from the deal “in this specific instance.” The publisher highlighted that, per their contracts, Arcadia has the rights to license books, but that it “values its relationships with its authors” and wanted to check with them first. For the authors Slate spoke to, the licensing fee was $340 per book. Another author posted their […]
PRH Sues to Recover Advance for Unpublished Donald Sutherland Memoir
Penguin Random House is suing to recoup the advance for late actor Donald Sutherland’s memoir, which was scheduled to be published in fall 2024. According to the complaint, Crown bought Sutherland’s memoir for $1.25 million in October 2023 and paid a $400,000 advance to the actor’s corporation, McNichol Inc. A coauthor delivered a draft in March 2024 and the editor provided feedback before Sutherland died in June. In July, McNichol told Crown that the manuscript was not approved by Sutherland’s estate. In August, the filing notes, “Crown provided a revised draft to facilitate completion.” The suit goes on to state […]
Macmillan Acquires Sounds True Catalogs
Macmillan will acquire Sounds True’s backlist and frontlist titles, driving an expansion in mind/body/spirit publishing. Print and ebooks will be published under the St. Martin’s Essentials imprint and audiobooks and original audio will be published by Macmillan Audio. Sounds True authors include Jon Kabat-Zinn, Pema Chödrön, Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, Caroline Myss, David Deida, Tara Brach, Wim Hof, Terri Cole, and Jack Kornfield. “Sounds True has been a longtime Macmillan distribution client. In that time, we’ve seen firsthand the passion and commitment with which Tami Simon and Sounds True have built a remarkable program. This acquisition represents our deepening investment […]
Mango Publishing Closes
Miami-based Mango Publishing is going out of business, founder Christopher McKenney announced in a letter to authors yesterday. The company took out high-interest loans during the pandemic, he writes, and since then have had to “navigate supply chain disruptions, high print price inflation, book market downsizing, losses from uncollectible accounts receivable, and more recently, even tariffs, while servicing the bank and other debts.” A team of consultants is managing the shut down, and the bank is liquidating all Mango assets “for their benefit.” The company has “exhausted all cash” and will not be able to pay down any debts or […]
People 10/31
August Book Sales Fell 10 Percent
The Association of American Publishers announced August sales data from participating StatShot publishers, reporting trade sales of $716 million in the month, down 9.6 percent from last year. Adult books sold $522 million, down 10 percent. Fiction sold $304 million, down 3 percent, and adult nonfiction fell 17 percent to $218 million. Hardcovers sold $164 (down 4 percent), paperbacks sold $183 million (down 15.5 percent), digital audio sold $79.5 million (down 4 percent), and ebooks sold $75.9 million (down 4 percent). In children’s and YA books, sales fell 9.6 percent to $194 million, with $162 million in fiction sales (down […]