The monthly pool of money allocated retroactively to self-published authors whose work is offered through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription plan rose again for December — both in the closely-watched per book payout, which was $1.43 per borrow/read, and in overall dollars, with Amazon allocating a $4.25 million “bonus,” making the total pool for the month $7.25 million. Per book payments hit a low for the year of $1.33 in October, then rose to $1.39 in November. The December unit fee is still lower than the August and September payouts. The December pool accounts for roughly 5.07 million borrows in all. […]
Authors
People, Etc.
Jessica Preeg has rejoined St. Martin’s as senior publicist. In addition, Christy D’Agostini has been promoted to publicity manager. At Knopf Books for Young Readers, Stephen Brown has been promoted to assistant editor. Alexander Czik has joined Crown as a data marketing analyst. Previously he was an analyst at DigitasLBi, a marketing and technology agency. At Penguin Random House, Linda Cowen has been promoted to svp, associate general counsel and Marlene Glazer has been promoted to vp, associate general counsel. Tyndale House announced it will stop selling THE BOY WHO CAME BACK TO HEAVEN by Todd Malarkey and his father, Kevin, after Malarkey […]
People, Etc.: Franzen Interview to Open BEA
Book Expo America’s opening event will feature author Jonathan Franzen interviewed by Salon book critic Laura Miller, on May 27 at 12 PM (an hour before the show floor opens; this year the trade exhibition runs for two and a half days). This will be Franzen’s first event to discuss his new novel PURITY, which FSG will publish in September. The conversation will include “a discussion of the author’s writing [and] the important influences in his life” as well. Nonfiction publisher at Pan Macmillan Jon Butler is leaving the company at the end of the month to join Quercus as managing director, with current […]
Briefs: Saramago Estate to Wylie; THE HUSBAND’S SECRET in Paperback; and More
Once again, a prominent literary estate has switched representation to The Wylie Agency. The estate of Jose Saramago announced the change as of December 30, 2014, saying “this shift to a larger literary agency emerges as a natural step to ensure greater presence” of Saramago’s work. They briefly thanked Nicole Witt at Literary Agency Mertin, Saramago’s longtime agency (first under the late Ray-Gude Mertin). Witt expressed “great surprise” at the “short email” from the estate notifying her of the change. She writes, in part, “When I said goodbye to José Saramago in Lanzarote in June 2010, shortly before he passed away, I […]
FSG, Heinemann To Publish Houellebecq’s SUBMISSION In Wake of Charlie Hebdo Massacre
Wednesday morning’s attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 dead, including four cartoonists and the economist and author Bernard Maris, took place on the French publication date of Michel Houellebecq‘s new novel SUBMISSION, already subject to controversy for its depiction of France under Islamic rule in 2022 (and featured on the cover of Charlie Hebdo’s most recent issue, also published Wednesday). An armed police guard is currently stationed at the headquarters of Houellebecq’s publisher Flammarion, while “a large sign said visitors must request permission by phone and get an escort before entering.” The company’s […]
Briefs
Following Macmillan ceo John Sargent’s indication that they will, with some reluctance, “test subscription in the coming weeks,” Oyster announced that their collection now includes over 1,000 titles published by Bloomsbury. Harper UK has disclosed their annual results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. Sales fell to £179 million, down £11 million from the prior year, while profits rebounded from terrible to just low, with pre-tax earnings of £7.2 million (still, much better than £2.8 million the year before). The company said profits were held down by £3.5 million related to their planned relocation to new offices in 2015. The Bookseller […]