Jeff Kinney’s seventh installment of the bestselling Wimpy Kid series will go on sale on November 13 from Amulet Books, with the UK, Australia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Norway to follow the next day. Abrams said that Kinney’s books have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Greg Heffley’s stories would be enjoyed by kids around the world,” Kinney said in the announcement. “I’m incredibly excited to have the chance to lay down the seventh Diary of a Wimpy Kid book in seven countries at the same time. My international […]
Losses Mount For Hastings, Tablet Sales Boost Book Comps
Hastings Entertainment reported fourth quarter and full year results Monday morning and the losses continue to mount. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $8.4 million (or 1 dollar a share), considerably worse than the $3.8 million in profit reported a year ago, with an overall loss of $17.6 million for the year. Overall book comps actually increased 2.4 percent for the quarter, “primarily due to sales of the Nextbook Premium 7 e-reader tablet and related accessories” and an uptick in trade paperback sales that offset continuing sales declines in new mass market books and used hardbacks. […]
People: Schoenfelder Exits Mulholland to Oversee Development for Scott Rudin
Mulholland Books editor John Schoenfelder will be leaving Little, Brown to work for film producer Scott Rudin, where he will oversee the development department. His start date is May 1. In a brief telephone interview Schoenfelder told us he will continue to work with many of his authors on a freelance basis, though Mulholland is searching for a replacement. “It’s an exciting opportunity,” Schoenfelder said, “to work with one of the most tremendous shepherds of storytelling in our era.” Schoenfelder joined the crime & suspense imprint in December 2009 from Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press, where he was an assistant editor. […]
Bookselling: Labor Issues At the Strand; Douglas Holdings To Keep Thalia; Nicholas Hoare Stores To Close; and More
WNET’s Metrofocus blog reports on labor issues affecting the Strand Bookstore, where employees are struggling to negotiate with the bookstore’s owners with respect to what they see as a ‘two-tier wage system’, which if not rectified may lead to a strike. The issue stems from the Strand hiring 33-35 non-unionized managers in the past year, and unionized employees were offered a new contract “that would reduce their paid personal days and sick days by nearly half, and nearly double the amount each employee would have to pay for their health insurance premiums.” In addition, a 50 cent-per-six month raise that […]
People, Etc.
Publishing veteran Marie Coolman joins Bloomsbury as senior director of publicity and communications on March 19, reporting to Cristina Gilbert. Coolman comes to Bloomsbury from Hyperion, where she has overseen publicity and communications since November 2008. Sarah Freese at WordServe Literary has been promoted to associate agent. Lucy Abrahams has been appointed as literary scout for Metaichmio in Greece and Natur & Kultur in Sweden. BEA has announced its full slate of author breakfast appearances. Tuesday’s author breakfast, hosted by Stephen Colbert will feature Junot Diaz, Barbara Kingsolver and Jo Nesbo; John Green, Lois Lowry and Kadir Nelson will speak at […]
People, Etc.
At Goldberg McDuffie Communications, Kathleen Zrelak has been promoted to vp, director of publicity. Author of PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM Kyung-Sook Shin has won the Man Asian Literary Prize, receiving $30,000. Translator Chi-Young Kim also received US$5,000. The Bancroft Prize for history is being shared this year by Anne Hyde’s Empires, Nations and Families: A History of the North American West, 1800-1860; Daniel Rodgers’ Age of Fracture; and Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement. As part of the relocation of Bonnier’s Weldon Owen from Australia to London, Martina Challis has been […]