The rediscovery and forthcoming publication of Harper Lee’s GO SET A WATCHMAN dominated Tuesday’s cultural news cycle, as excitement over the novel, said to have been written in the 1950s and set 20 years after the events depicted in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, was played against some skepticism over Lee’s current condition and how the manuscript was found. Two representatives from Lee’s publisher Harper Collins shared thoughts and background with the media. Harper vp, publisher Jonathan Burnham told NBC the company “instantly read it, devoured it” while asserting his confidence the manuscript was, in fact, Lee’s: “Everyone had believed it to been lost, […]
Authors
True: Harper Lee to Publish Second Novel with Harper
The AP reported on Tuesday that HarperCollins will issue Harper Lee’s second novel, GO SET A WATCHMAN, on July 14, with a planned North American first printing of 2 million copies. The book is “essentially a sequel” to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, though it was written first. The 304-page book was “rediscovered last fall.” The 88-year-old Lee says in a statement: “In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called ‘Go Set a Watchman.’ It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to […]
Hannah Tops Amazon’s February List (And Is Costco’s Pick, Too); And More
Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale — the Indie Next February No. 1 title — is Amazon‘s spotlight title in their best books of February list, and the new Pennie’s Pick at Costco as well. M.O. Walsh’s My Sunshine Away is Amazon’s featured debut. Their full list features: Green on Blue, Elliot Ackerman Funny Girl, Nick Hornby Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill Leovy A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power, Paul Fischer A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Tyler Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari Get in Trouble: Stories, Kelly Link […]
Gerritsen Plans Amended Complaint to Continue “Gravity” Contract Breach Suit Against Warner
Last Friday Los Angeles District Court Judge Margaret Morrow granted Warner Bros.’ motion to dismiss Tess Gerritsen’s breach of contract lawsuit, filed at the end of April. Gerritsen’s original complaint alleged she should receive credit and net profit participation on the movie “Gravity,” directed by Alfonso Cuaron, which she said was partly based on her 1999 novel of the same name. Gerritsen sought legal remedy for what could “no longer be dismissed as coincidence” after learning that Cuaron had been attached to her project as far back as 2000. Gerritsen had originally contracted with Katja productions, a shell corporation of New Line […]
People, Etc.
In the UK, Foyle’s ceo Sam Husain, 67, will retire in April, the Bookseller reports. Former toy retailer Hamley’s coo Paul Currie will take over the leadership for the bookseller, and Husain will stay on as a non-executive director. Also in the UK, Kieron Smith, who had been managing director of bookseller Book Depository before its sale to Amazon, has been hired by Blackwell’s as digital director, starting in February. He fills the slot vacated by Matthew Cashmore. Smith’s recent project, the online Best Little Bookshop, has closed. Hanna Masaryk is joining Greenburger Associates as children’s/YA scout. She was previously an agency assistant at Curtis […]
Gallery Announces Literary Scout Press, and More
Gallery formally acknowledged their new literary imprint Scout Press on Monday, as promotion continues to build for one of their titles, literary agent Bill Clegg’s first novel (and third book), Did You Ever Have A Family?. Set for publication September 15 (with published metadata for some time, and rights sold in multiple territories), Clegg’s book will be promoted at the upcoming ABA Winter Institute. Gallery publisher Jennifer Bergstrom introduces a new conceit of “great accessible literary fiction,” which she describes to the NYT as, “literary but very accessible, not precious, not fussy, not esoteric.” In the release, she adds, “We will […]