This week new work from Cynthia Ozick, Elizabeth McCracken, and Paul Theroux is in the mix, along with Buzz Books featured author Angela Jackson-Brown, whose novel When Stars Rain Down transports readers to a small, Southern town in 1936. The small selection of highlighted nonfiction is heavy on history, with books covering the Cuban missile crisis, three generations of the Sackler family, and a Gold Rush disaster, among others. 21 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-april-13 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_April_/219277 6 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-april-13 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_April_/219278 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for […]
Gendell Files Counterclaims Against McGuigan, Alleging Defamation Along with “Inattentiveness, Incompetence” and “Unprofessional and Abusive Behavior”
Yfat Reiss Gendell denied the charges made against against her by former Foundry partner Peter McGuigan in his January lawsuit and filed counterclaims of her own, alleging defamation, tortious interference with agents and deals at her firm YRG Partners, breach of contract and more. The filing accuses McGuigan of “years of inattentiveness, incompetence, as well as unprofessional and abusive behavior,” and charges him with creating and spreading “a defamatory smear campaign” designed “to falsely justify his own foolish actions” in freezing both the client and operating accounts of Foundry. In her counterclaims, Gendell seeks damages for reputational harm, lost business […]
New Books Publishing April 6
Blake Bailey’s 912-page Philip Roth biography, along with memoirs from Hunter Biden, Jenny Lawson, and Brandi Carlile, all publish today. Fiction releases include a new thriller from Jeff VanderMeer and short stories from Haruki Murakami. Also out, Flynn Berry’s Northern Spy, Erin French’s Finding Freedom, and five other titles excerpted in our Buzz Books sampler. 24 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-april-6 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_April_/219246 10 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-april-6 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_April_/219247 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming three months through this reference page. But if you want to make sure your […]
Storytel Meets Its Growth Goals for 2020, Sets Aggressive New Targets
Swedish audiobook subscription service Storytel published its 2020 annual report, with total sales of SEK 2.39 billion ($268 million), up from SEK 1.84 billion, exceeding its goal for the year despite a strong Swedish krona. The company’s pretax loss was SEK (210) million, an improvement from SEK (380) million last year, though the company remains focused on growth over profit. “Storytel’s strong expansion focus, which prioritizes growth over profitability, will remain in place as long as customer acquisition creates value and contributes to making more markets profitable at a local level.” (One more market reached profitability in 2020, in the […]
Tencent’s Ebook Outlet Launches North American Platform
China Literature, the ebook venture of the Chinese chat and gaming giant Tencent, has launched a North American platform, featuring more than 200,000 original English-language titles as well as 1,000 works translated from Chinese. (All My Beasts Are Legendary and Rebirth: Pampered Wife’s Counterattack are the two titles currently featured on the front page’s top carousel.) Called WebNovel, the platform seeks to “transplant the strategy proven successful in China to the new market, to build a content eco-system where we could build on our IP,” China Literature’s head of international business Sandra Chen, told Reuters. In China, the ebook platform […]
January AAP StatShot Shows Adult Hardcover Leading Overall Trade Growth
The AAP released their January StatShot of publisher-reported sales, showing continuing strength: Adult and children’s trade sales were $628 million for the month, up from $506 million in pre-pandemic January, one year ago. The biggest gains were in adult hardcovers, with sales $138.6 million, up sharply from $91.5 million last year. Much of that gain was thanks to lower returns, which were down substantially across both adult and children’s formats, continuing the pandemic trend. Still, shipments of adult hardcovers gained a healthy 16.6 percent, at $173.9 million. Ebooks continue to hold their pandemic gains, at $87 million for the month, […]