As some of you may have noticed, we are finishing up another expansion and revision of Deals/Dealmakers categories, this time with an emphasis on our sprawling nonfiction section. Long overdue (someone finally asked), we have created a Body, Mind & Spirit category, so those projects will no longer be scattered among multiple ill-fitting tags. We have also split the rather unwieldy History/Politics/Current Affairs into two separate groups: History, on its own, and Politics/Current Affairs (which still holds a wide spectrum of topics, including climate, race, feminism, gender, legal & justice, urban studies, education and more, often broadly related to social […]
Deals
Second Quarter Deals
After a strong first quarter — perhaps buoyed by relatively early calendar returns for live versions of the Bologna (March 21) and London (April 5) book fairs — deal reports in the US for the second quarter hewed more closely to the sales pattern for print books as measured by NPD Bookscan. In other words, deal volume was down compared to a record-smashing second quarter in 2021, declining 9.1 percent, but was still well ahead of previous years (and 8 percent better than in 2019, which had been a peak period). And even though total deal volume fell, reported six-figure […]
ILP Acquires Estates of Marsh, Rule and Thirkell
International Literary Properties (ILP) announced the acquisition of three more literary estates, in whole or in part: A majority interest in the literary estate of New Zealand crime novelist Dame Ngaio Marsh; a majority interest in the literary estate of American true crime author Ann Rule; and full ownership of the literary works of British author Angela Thirkell. CEO of ILP UK and Europe Hilary Strong said in the release: “I have been lucky enough to work closely with a number of crime estates, amongst them Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh is undoubtedly one of the masters […]
First Quarter Deals: Sales Remain At Record Levels, Even As Six-Figure Deals Soften
Following a record year in 2021 for US deal transactions as measured through our PM deal reports, it’s time for an update on deal trends from the first quarter of 2022. To recap the baseline, 2021 saw a surge in dealmaking in the first and second quarters, followed by a modest pullback in the third quarter and a finish to the year that was slightly ahead of the first pandemic uptick from late 2020. In the end, US deals were up 9.4 percent overall, and six-figure deals grew even more, up over 21 percent. Those results aligned with industry stats: […]
Newsletter Touts Book Material for Development
Former THR books editor Andy Lewis is writing a weekly column for start-up The Ankler that touts some forthcoming releases still available for film/TV options. Called the Optionist, he writes, “Every Friday, I’ll present un-optioned material from books, magazines, news articles, podcasts, games and graphic novels that I think deserve a look. I will attempt to go beyond hot titles on current lists from your book scouts, and pick out the hidden gems.”
2021: The Year In Deals, and the Stats Behind the Boom
Overall Stats As we documented during the year, deal activity boomed in the first two quarters of 2021: US deal reports were up about 19 percent overall, and six-figure deals rose even more. In the second half of the year, dealmaking remained steady with a strong period from 2020, with the biggest “major” deals jumping at year-end. By year end, total deals rose more in 2021 than in 2020, and six-figure deals or better were particularly strong. At the same time, translation deals came roaring back after falling in 2020. Specifically: – US deals were up 9.4 percent overall, even more than […]