After bringing peace to the Middle East and curing Covid-19, Jared Kushner will write “the definitive, thorough recounting of the [Trump] administration and the truth about what happened behind closed doors” for Harper imprint Broadside Books. They call him “the most consequential adviser throughout President Trump’s presidency” who “played a central role in the administration’s most significant accomplishments.” The book will be published early next year. The NYT reported that former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos “has also sold a book” — but they don’t know to whom. Among the other not-at-all silenced members of the previous administration, Kayleigh McEnany’s For […]
Deals
Harper Has Been “Very Aggressive” In Buying New Titles As Market Continues to Grow
HarperCollins ceo Brian Murray was interviewed Tuesday morning as part of a Credit Suisse investor conference, where he explained the trade publishing business’s growing sales and margins. Murray made clear, “We are being aggressive in terms of buying books. We’ve seen the book pie grow, maybe 15 percent. And so our response, which is part opportunistic and part defensive, is to be aggressive in buying right now. Because if that pie remains large, we want to make sure that we get a nice share of the larger pie. And if it happens to wane a little bit, we want to […]
People, Etc.
At the Workman imprint, Wendy Williams has joined as senior editor, with a focus on calendars. She was most recently senior editor at Sterling Publishing. Alisha Zucker has joined the children’s editorial department as senior editor, with a focus on curriculum titles. She was most recently executive editor of early childhood mathematics at Scholastic. Roxanne Jones has joined Grand Central as a publicity manager. She was previously at Harlequin. At Harper Children’s, Sam Fox is joining as director of digital marketing. He was previously brand marketer and director at Condé Nast. At Princeton University Press, Ken Barton has joined in the […]
Zando Announces First Title; Spiegel & Grau Celebrates Launch
New independent publisher Zando, launched last fall by former Crown publisher Molly Stern, has announced its first acquisition: YOU ARE NOT ALONE: The NAMI Guide To Mental Illness And Recovery, by Dr. Ken Duckworth. The book will be published in fall 2022 partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Zando senior editor Quynh Do acquired the book, at auction, sold by Will Lippincott at Aevitas Creative Management. Stern and Do talked to PL about the inaugural title, acquired in “a competitive auction” and Zando’s strategy of platform-driven publishing. Do told PL that once the world is through the initial […]
Simon & Schuster to Publish Mike Pence
Former vice president Mike Pence’s autobiography will be published by Simon & Schuster. Publisher Dana Canedy made a two-book, world rights deal with Pence through David Vigliano and Thomas Flannery at Vigliano Associates. The first book is scheduled for publication in 2023. Canedy says in the announcement, “Vice President Pence’s life and work, his journey as a Christian, the challenges and triumphs he has faced, and the lessons he has learned, tells an American story of extraordinary public service during a time of unrivaled public interest in our government and politics. His revelatory autobiography will be the definitive book on […]
Deal Reports Jump In First Quarter — Alongside Print Book Sales
As readers may recall in January we analyzed domestic book deal trends for 2020, finding that deal volume rose measurably, across all major categories — even as financial investment in the biggest deals softened, particularly in adult books. With NPD Bookscan showing print book sales stronger than ever across the first quarter of 2021 — with sales of approximately 186 million units, up a big 26.5 percent compared to 147 million units in 2020 — we looked at our deal report statistics for the same period. In line with those very strong consumer print book sales, our deal reports also […]