Armed with the biggest purse in town, Penguin Random House announced late Tuesday that the company has acquired world rights to two forthcoming books, one by former president Barack Obama and one by former first lady Michelle Obama. The announcement was made under the name of ceo Markus Dohle, who according to PRH employees stayed in New York to finalize negotiations and was not at the company’s sales conference in Florida. (Update: We misunderstood; Mr. Dohle has indeed been at sales conference. People were indicating he might have missed out on some meetings during the negotiations, but a spokesperson attested to his “engagement…at […]
Deals
Auction for The Obamas’ Books Said to Pass $60 Million
By Tuesday afternoon bidding for world rights to a package of two books, one by Barack Obama and one by Michelle Obama, had reached over $60 million, according to multiple sources talking to the FT. Penguin Random House has always been considered the leading contender — and has the biggest pocket on the block. The FT says Simon & Schuster and Macmillan have paired to make a joint bid (and one rumor has Oprah Winfrey’s imprint as the Macmillan part of the offer), with Harper bidding as well. They don’t list HBG as a known active bidder. By their account […]
Briefs: Macmillan to Publish with NY Public Library, Reacher Stories, and More
Macmillan evp Will Schwalbe has brokered a deal with Carrie Welch at the New York Public Library “to create and publish a wide variety of print and e-books for adults and for children drawing from and inspired by” the library’s collection. Michael Flamini will oversee the adult program, and Jean Feiwel and Christian are overseeing the children’s line. Among the first adult titles will be a book featuring menus from the library’s collection of 45,000 New York eatery menus and Book Face, collecting top posts from the #bookface Instagram. Early children’s titles include a coloring book featuring vintage art; a picture book starring the […]
Past the Hype, Data Shows Modest Dealmaking As Dollars Move Away From Big Fiction
With the Frankfurt Book Fair underway, our annual analysis of actual dealmaking data stands in contrast to the standing fair daily stories hailing a few big deals made a few weeks ago. Our data shows overall dealmaking just below last year’s soft season, comprising the fewest pre-Frankfurt deals since 2012. (And that’s with an extra day counted in; since Frankfurt is late this year, we start counting the five-week selling season from Monday, September 12 rather than the Tuesday after Labor Day. In terms of where publishers are making their biggest investments, the momentum continues last year’s shift to nonfiction. Overall […]
People, Etc.
Doug Jones has been promoted to the new position of svp, deputy publisher of the Harper group, reporting to Jonathan Burnham. In addition, he will serve as publisher of Harper Perennial and Harper Paperbacks. All marketing and publicity for the Harper imprints and lines will report to Jones, who has been svp, sales for HarperCollins. Senior vice president, associate publisher Kathy Schneider is leaving the company. Sarah Bedingfield has joined Levine Greenberg Rostan as an associate agent, working with Stephanie Rostan and building a clientele of literary and upmarket commercial fiction authors. She was previously an assistant editor at Crown and Hogarth. Claire Kelley has joined Roost […]
LBF: This Will Be Familiar
Back at Olympia for a second straight year, the London Book Fair opened Tuesday in familiar form, similar to last year’s show. The special above-ground train that is supposed to connect London’s tube directly to Olympia is still out of commission (fortunately it was a good morning for a leisurely wall). The hotel-style nomenclature, with its Grand Halls and galleries, remains in place, and the International Rights Center is still situated on another floor where elevators are maddeningly slow and the stairs up and down can be crowded. The wifi is still free and still works, automatically reducing one of the biggests […]