Knopf has been positioning Jo Nesbo‘s THE SNOWMAN as its big summer thriller breakout, and they report selling 20,000 total copies so far of the May 10 release – with digital making up as much as 65 percent, at 13,000 units sold. Since every media outlet under the sun has wondered whether Nesbo is “the next Stieg Larsson,” it’s worth noting that THE SNOWMAN exceeded sales of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by 2,000 units during the same time frame. “The Larsson comp is significant because it demonstrates how much shift there has been in our business in under […]
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People: Lotts, Schelling Open New Agencies
Chris Lotts and Christopher Schelling have left Ralph Vicinanza Ltd to open new agencies. The Lotts Agency will continue Lotts’s representation of commercial fiction and targeted upmarket non-fiction in a mix of domestic and foreign rights, working on behalf of Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer R. Scott Bakker, Stacia Kane and Lia Hable, among many others. At Schelling’s new shop, Selectric Artists, he will continue with authors like Augusten Burroughs, Cinda Williams Chima, John Elder Robison, Louis Bayard, Kim Stanley Robinson and Haven Kimmel, while also expanding his representation into other media, such […]
Technology and Treats (Part One: Appiness)
Last year we happily experimented with creating web apps to organize and inform the BEA experience, and now we are back with new and improved versions. Two new features come directly from user feedback: 1. The iOS and Android versions use some HTML 5 magic to work offline as well as online. That means that when the mysterious Javits Center electromagnetic force field renders you unable to connect to either a cell tower or wifi at 21st-century speeds, the Publishers Lunch BEA to Go app will still let you search the events schedule and exhibitor directory. Just make sure that […]
Technology and Treats (Part Two: Bloginess)
We’re also unveiling another months-in-the-making upgrade to PublishersMarketplace.com and Publishers Lunch today. The Publishers Lunch news page and archive has left behind the 10-year-old platform we’ve been working with and moved to WordPress, with a new design and a number of new features. For now the change in your daily mail is simple: click any headline and it will take you to the site-based permalink, where we welcome your comments. Also, readers are so accustomed to getting Lunch by e-mail that they often didn’t know how to find the story links to share via blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. In the […]
Technology and Treats (Part Three)
The updated Publishers Lunch Deluxe and the improved BEA apps are our biggest technology launches since the quiet introduction of Nielsen Publishers Marketplace BookScan at the end of last year, which gives agents access to unlimited use of Nielsen BookScan’s “industry standard” sales data (and comprehensive bestseller lists) right through the familiar and intuitive PM interface. We are now allowed to consider applications for service from other industry professionals as well. Visit this page for more info and to apply. On the digital front, we’re continuing to enroll a wonderfully diverse group for our Publishers Launch Conference at BEA: eBooks […]
People: Davidar Starts New Publishing House in India, and More
Former Penguin Canada publisher David Davidar, who left the company and the country under a cloud of controversy after sexual harassment allegations, has joined forces with Rupa Publications India to start a new publishing house, the Aleph Book Company. The new venture will begin with a small and select group of fiction and non-fiction titles (evidently mirroring Faber and Faber in the UK.) Said Davidar in a statement: “I am thrilled to join hands with Rupa to launch this venture. We will be looking be ensure that each book we publish makes its mark and to that any title that […]