Two of the biggest releases this week more than lived up to advance billing. Random House announced that George R.R. Martin‘s A DANCE WITH DRAGONS sold 298,000 copies on its first day on sale in North America, comprising 170,000 printed copies, 110,000 ebooks and 18,000 audio units. President and publisher Gina Centrello says in a release the sales are “wildly exceeding our retailers’ most optimistic expectations. With George’s outstanding print edition sales, his readers are clearly indicating they want to place this new hardcover on their bookshelves alongside his earlier volumes.” RHPG publisher of digital content Scott Shannon echoes for the […]
Authors
Today In Books Not Published
As publishers theoretically tempt Maria Shriver into writing a memoir, Page Six says that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s own plans to publish a book will likely have to wait on her. By their account in April “his lawyers were reviewing fine print on an agreement for a multimillion-dollar memoir deal.” A spokesperson tells the column, “I can confirm that the governor is considering a memoir and has looked at offers from different publishers.” But as one publisher tells Page six anonymously, “no woman is going to pay to read Arnold’s story through his eyes.” Shriver is represented by Jan Miller at Dupree […]
People: Rowling on New Projects; Harris Closing Book on Sookie Stackhouse; and More
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 […]
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 […]