NPD Bookscan noted in a release that Colleen Hoover has sold 7.3 million print books so far this year, through August 27. Right now she occupies four of the top six spots on Bookscan’s most recent bestseller list, and nine of the top 20 spots — with titles from three different publishers. Year to date, she holds five of the top eight bestselling print books as well. Her new book, IT STARTS WITH US, publishes October 18 and “is expected to smash presale records,” Bookscan adds. The majority of Hoover’s books are categorized as romance, and a separate release from […]
Authors
Barnes & Noble Stocking Policy Sparks Controversy Online
Last week, multiple middle grade and young adult authors, agents, and booksellers posted on Twitter about Barnes & Noble’s stocking policies, causing alarm online. A number of authors were finding out for the first time that their new hardcover releases will not be stocked at the chain, including Kelly Yang, Kalynn Bayron and Newbery winner Meg Medina. PL reached out to Barnes & Noble and publishers for clarity. The chain has been telling publishers for some time that middle grade hardcovers, as well as to a certain extent YA and adult fiction hardcovers, are not selling through well, and new title […]
Salman Rushdie Begins Recovery After Friday Attack
After being stabbed about 10 times on Friday before a talk at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York, Salman Rushdie is off a ventilator and beginning recovery. “The road to recovery has begun,” his agent Andrew Wylie told the New York Times. “It will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction.” Following the attack, Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital with injuries to his neck and abdomen. Wylie told the press on Friday that the author was being treated for severed nerves and damage to his liver, and that he […]
Obituary: David McCullough, 89
The bestselling author of 12 books and two-time winner of both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, David McCullough died on Sunday at 89, “surrounded by his five children in Hingham, MA.” His wife, Rosalee, died two months ago. Simon & Schuster ceo Jonathan Karp said in a statement: “David McCullough was a national treasure. His books brought history to life for millions of readers. Through his biographies, he dramatically illustrated the most ennobling parts of the American character. Simon & Schuster has been honored to be David’s publisher for 54 years. He was greatly admired and beloved throughout […]
New Play Dedicated to Russell Perreault
On August 5, TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT will debut Secondo, a sequel to the play I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Jacques Lamarre, adapted from the memoir by former publishing professional Giulia Melucci. Currently vp of marketing and communications at Harper’s Magazine, Mellucci and Lamarre dedicate Secondo to the late Vintage Anchor vp Russell Perreault, who introduced them when Lamarre was working on the play adaptation of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.
“Freelance Writer” Stephen King On the Stand
“My name is Stephen King; I’m a freelance writer.” So began what is likely to be the most entertaining testimony of the A3 trial, even if it seems unlikely to have great bearing on the case. (Though Judge Pan was clearly as charmed as everyone else to have the renowned author on the stand. When he was dismissed, smiling, broadly, she said, “It was a real pleasure to hear your testimony.”) King noted he was testifying voluntarily, because, “I think that consolidation is bad for competition; that’s my understanding of the book business.” As he recalled, “When I started there […]