A lawsuit in the UK has revealed that Neil Blair at The Blair Partnership paid his former employer Christopher Little £10 million as a settlement fee in January 2012. The payment came after Blair set up his own agency in 2011 and took over representation of JK Rowling. The filing also indicates that Blair borrowed the money for the lump sum payment from Rowling. The only previous report of the settlement was a Daily Mail account in February 2012, with a statement from statement from reputation and crisis-management firm Project Associates indicating that Rowling and Little “have reached an amicable agreement […]
Agency News
Gendell Agrees to Foundry Receiver, Asks Court to Allow Sale of Agency
Former Foundry partner Yfat Reiss Gendell told the New York Supreme Court that she agrees to and joins in former partner Peter McGuigan’s request for a temporary receiver to manage the agency’s affairs. The two continue to disagree on how to oversee Foundry’s business, with each blaming the other for the obstruction. Gendell’s new filing alleges that, “McGuigan continues to refuse to pay various service providers, such as Foundry’s transactional counsel, refuses to pay for rent and utilities for Foundry’s office, and refuses to authorize Foundry to make payments on its line of credit.” Significantly, Gendell also wants the court-appointed […]
People, Etc.
Vedika Khanna has been promoted to associate editor at William Morrow. Penelope Belnap has joined Vintage and Anchor as associate publicist. She previously worked in publicity at Random House. At Penguin Random House Canada, Susan Burns will become senior managing editor of Knopf Canada, while continuing her roles as senior managing editor of Appetite by Random House, and as director, managing editorial. Cristina DaPonte has been promoted to the role of associate publicist. Matthew McGhee has joined Harper Christian as associate publisher for the Spanish division, which includes Vida and Grupo Nelson. He was previously worked for Ligonier Ministries, the […]
This Week’s Wednesday Guest: Literary Agent Vicky Bijur
Longtime literary agent Vicky Bijur (Vicky Bijur Literary Agency) joins us at noon on Wednesday, April 28 as our next weekly AMA guest on the PM forum Discuss. Feel free to post your questions for Vicky in advance; the discussion will happen at this link. A reminder that these are straightforward typed message board conversations. No cameras, no sound, no zooming, no separate apps required. Use the “reply” button to type your questions or comments, and Vicky will post back. While all of these conversations are scheduled and conducted live on our site, everything is preserved as well, so if you can’t […]
Endeavor Files For An IPO Again, Reveals Covid Financial Impact
Endeavor Group has once again filed registration documents with the SEC for an initial public offering of shares in their hodgepodge of debt-laden assets. The filing comes after the company abandoned their previous IPO at the last minute in September 2019. Tepid interest and a weak market for IPOs at the time led them to reduce expectations from $600 million in proceeds down to $400 million. As part of the filing, the company delineated the “significant impact” of Covid-19 on their business, hitting the representation segment hardest of all. 2020 sales were $3.479 billion — down from $4.571 billion in […]
Former Foundry Agents Lament Continuing Issues
Authors waiting for overdue royalty payments from Foundry Literary have been watching anxiously for news that the agency has secured new bank accounts after City National Bank served notice that it intended to close Foundry’s accounts at the end of February. An author reports they have been told by two people with direct knowledge of the process that the bank agreed to short extensions, with a new deadline to close the accounts of March 15. After attorneys for former Foundry partners Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan told the court on February 16 that, “The parties have made significant progress,” […]