JK Rowling said in several interviews to coincide with Friday’s opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II film that she has written “quite a lot” of new material and has plans to publish it. (Previously she said she was working simultaneously on a political fairytale for children and a novel for adults.) “I think I always felt I didn’t want to publish again until the last film was out because Potter has been such a huge thing in my life. I’ve been writing hard ever since I finished writing Hallows, so I’ve got a lot of stuff […]
Authors
The August 2011 Indie Next List
1. Iron House, by John Hart Unsaid: A Novel, by Neil Abramson The Family Fang: A Novel, by Kevin Wilson The Call: A Novel, by Yannick Murphy Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline Rules of Civility: A Novel, by Amor Towles Plugged: A Novel, by Eoin Colfer The End of Everything: A Novel, by Megan Abbott The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb: A Novel, by Melanie Benjamin Among the Wonderful, by Stacy Carlson The Adjustment, by Scott Phillips Next to Love: A Novel, by Ellen Feldman Domestic Violets: A Novel, by Matthew Norman Girls in White Dresses, by Jennifer Close […]
People, Awards, Etc.: Johnson Prize, Cleary, and More
Frank Dikotter’s MAO’S GREAT FAMINE won the UK’s richest nonfiction book award, the Samuel Johnson Prize. The judges called it a”meticulous account of a brutal manmade calamity is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the history of the 20th century.” (Bloomsbury and Walker published it in both the UK and US.) Bookmasters has hired Ernesto Martinez as manager of Spanish-language products and programs, overseeing their growing Spanish-language book and content services division. For the past five years, he was Borders’ Spanish language book buyer. Copyright Clearance Center has hired author and high tech industry veteran Haralambos “Babis” Marmanis as […]
Assange Memoir Reportedly Near Cancellation
Julian Assange’s memoir, once set for a release last April by Canongate and then delayed further last month, now may not be published at all. The Guardian quotes “publishing sources” as saying the book won’t be released “at least in its original form” after the Wikileaks founder “indicated he no longer wished to write the kind of book that was initially envisaged.” It appears Assange thinks the manuscript as ghostwritten by Andrew O’Hagan “could give ammunition to US prosecutors, whom he fears may seek his extradition on terrorist charges relating to WikiLeaks disclosures.” A spokeswoman for Canongate told the paper […]
People, Etc.
At Scholastic, Lynne Karppi has been promoted to Director of Creative and Product Development for the Consumer Products division. Andrea Colvin has been promoted to Director of Publishing Operations for Open Road Integrated Media. The Romance Writers of America announced its Golden Heart and RITA Award winners at its annual conference in New York last Friday. Full List Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, will self-publish her children’s book about 9/11, THE LITTLE PEAR TREE and donate the proceeds to charity, according to her spokesperson. A source told the Daily Mail that Ferguson reported got “her people” to send around […]
Still More on Pottermore: Themed Sony Reader Rumors, and Retailers Express Worry
The expected media frenzy after JK Rowling’s Pottermore announcement Thursday came with the usual hyperbole and breathless talk of how selling ebooks direct will “change” publishing (because one can always extrapolate on the future based on the creative approach of one author, especially one as successful as Rowling in terms of marketing to and reaching readers) or that Rowling blazes a trail for self-publishing, never mind that her main publishers Bloomsbury and Scholastic will receive royalties off of each and every direct ebook sale. More interesting and relevant is how Pottermore affects physical and online retailers whose profits once depended […]