Tough-talking William Morris Endeavor Entertainment co-CEO Ari Emanuel was interviewed at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, covered by paidContent, where he set himself (and the agency) up as the next Andrew Wylie. After an underwhelming first pass at literary representation when Endeavor as on its own, “Emanuel said one of the motivations behind merging Endeavor with William Morris last year was to get his hands on the book business, where Endeavor had no skin in the game. The reason it’s so appetizing, he said, is because it’s ripe for disintermediation. “‘I definitely don’t think I have to go […]
Authors
“Big Jim” Frey’s Book Factory Wants to Pay You $500
Early last week we carried a deal report from YA packager Full Fathom Five and today we’re treated to two profiles of the company, run by James Frey. Odds are you’ll feel the same way about Frey’s latest venture as you did about his previous efforts. His co-authored sci-fi YA “Lorien Legacies” series that started with this summer’s I AM NUMBER FOUR, published under the pseudonym Pittacus Lore to unspectacular sales, is just the beginning of the output from the Frey Factory. The book’s real prospects lay in the film version that DreamWorks has fast-tracked (the book was saleable only […]
People, Etc.
IDPF executive director Michael Smith will leave the organization shortly “to pursue other opportunities in the digital book space.” He will stay on during the search procress and transition to a replacement, which the organization hopes “will be completed by early January 2011.” At Random House UK, Cornerstone managing director Susan Sandon, Ebury managing director Fiona MacIntyre, Random House UK Children’s managing director Philippa Dickinson, and human resources director Neil Morrison have all been appointed to the company’s main board. CEO Gail Rebuck says in the announcement “this new structure ensures that we harness the strengths and talents at Board […]
People
Robert Kempe has been promoted to associate publisher at Seven Footer Press, sharing responsibility with publisher David Gomberg for the overall business and publishing operations. With the release this week of his new novel EDGE, Jeffrey Deaver speaks to USA Today about the James Bond book he’s working on for publication next May. “The novel is set in the present day, in 2011. Bond is a young agent for the British secret service. He’s 29 or 30 years old, and he’s an Afghan war vet…. I get him into a lot of trouble in the book.The poor guy. I almost […]
Authors in the News: New Garia Marquez Novel; Patterson Apped; King On His Kindle Story Experiment
With a book of his speeches about to be released, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is said to be close to finishing a new novel, WE’LL MEET IN AUGUST, according to Random House Mondadori editor Cristobal Pera. No pub date has been announced for the novel.AP Hachette Book Group launched a dedicated James Patterson iOS app, to “keep fans up to date on Patterson’s latest happenings,” in order “to learn about his books, his characters, his appearances, and his enthusiasms, to read an excerpt from every one of his books, and to press a button and buy that book within seconds from […]
People, Etc.
Following last week’s intense gossip among agents that former Simon & Schuster publisher David Rosenthal has been negotiating to set up an imprint at Penguin, Crain’s ran a short item memorializing the rumor. The parties are not commenting.Crain’s At the Simon & Schuster imprint, Michael Szczerban has been promoted to associate editor. Former President George Bush will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 9, the release date for his book DECISION POINTS. Steven Spielberg is going to direct the film version of Daniel H. Wilson’s forthcoming novel ROBOPOCALYPSE, with photography scheduled to begin in January 2012 for theatrical […]