JK Rowling will write the foreword to Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self, edited by Joseph Galliano (Atria) which will be released on October 25. In the foreword Rowling writes that she was touched by the letters’ “commonality … Nearly everyone who wrote, whether their letter is jolly or poignant, seems to have looked back on their younger selves with compassion.” A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. USA Today Speaking of USA Today, their Fall Books Preview highlights 31 titles, with special emphasis on upcoming, much-covered titles by Susan Orlean, Colson […]
Authors
Mortenson Case Back On Air, and In the News
The controversy over alleged misrepresentations in Greg Mortenson’s books is back in the news for a number of reasons. Sunday night 60 Minutes rebroadcast the April episode that first presented the case against Mortenson (and launched Jon Krakauer’s ebook on the topic, THREE CUPS OF DECEIT, without acknowledging that Krakauer’s research and manuscript were driving the investigation). The charity Mortenson founded, the Central Asia Institute, finally made it clear that its legal advice rather than medical counsel which is keeping Mortenson from responding: “Greg Mortenson is recovering from his open-heart surgery and making good progress with cardiac rehabilitation. On advice […]
CIA Demands Extensive Cuts To Former FBI Agent’s 9/11 Book
Former FBI agent Ali H. Soufan’s THE BLACK BANNERS: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al Qaeda is scheduled to be published on September 12 by Norton, but the version that will hit the market will be heavily redacted thanks to a number of objections from the CIA. According to the NYT, Soufan’s memoir, written with Daniel Freedman, argues “that the CIA missed a chance to derail the 2001 plot by withholding from the F.B.I. information about two future 9/11 hijackers living in San Diego,” and also offers a firsthand account of the agency’s move towards brutal […]
Martha Grimes Sues Penguin For Deducting Legal Expenses Against Advance
Bestselling mystery writer Martha Grimes has been involved in a series of court appearances related to her termination of representation by the Peter Lampack Agency (PLA) in 2007 after more than 11 years as a client. In the latest development, Grimes filed suit on August 12 in a New York Federal Court against her longtime publisher Penguin, alleging that the company materially breached its publishing contract with Grimes by not paying her $200,000 in advances and by setting-off legal expenses against her earnings in excess of what was provided for in their contract. She also alleges that Penguin “put its own […]
W. Paul Young Signs With Hachette For Next Book After Settling ‘The Shack’ Lawsuit
Hachette Book Group has signed William Paul Young for an untitled follow up to his multi-million selling novel THE SHACK, for which the publisher’s Faith Words imprint handled marketing, manufacturing, sales and distribution since mid-2008 after the original edition from Windblown Media sold over a million copies. The news comes shortly after Young reached a final settlement agreement with Windblown Media founders Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings on undisclosed terms on August 12, a deal that had been in the works for some time. (Young had alleged accounting improprieties, and Jacobsen and Cummings counter-sued, seeking joint copyright in the book.) […]
S&S Will Handle Print Sales & Distribution For John Locke
Self-published thriller writer John Locke, who sold more than a million copies of his Donovan Creed novels primarily via Amazon (helped in part by the 99 cent ebook price of each series title) has found a large publisher to back him on the print side. Starting in February 2012, Simon & Schuster will handle sales and distribution for the print editions of Locke’s books under the banner of John Locke Books. The deal will allow Locke’s novels – the eight books already released, as well as newer titles to come — to be more widely available in brick-and-mortar stores (including […]