Atlanta’s A Cappella Books is planning a midnight opening event for the release of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. In London, independent bookseller Crockatt and Powell is closing their South London store, after shuttering their Fulham Road branch in June. Stretching to try that second branch is what weakened the operation, co-owner Matthew Crockatt tells the Bookseller: “We made a commercial decision that didn’t turn out to be a good one.” And in electronic bookselling, Sony has announced that they now have over 1 million public domain titles available on their Reader.
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Judge Rules Will of Jack Kerouac's Mother, Controlling His Estate, Was Forged
A Florida judge has ruled that the will of Gabrielle Kerouac, the mother of the late author who inherited his estate in 1969, was a forgery, citing testimony from handwriting experts and doctors. Gabrielle had passed the literary estate to Kerouac’s third wife, Stella, now also deceased, who gave everything to her siblings in 1990. The suit was brought by the author’s reportedly impoverished nephew Paul Blake Jr., who took over the original action filed by Kerouac’s estranged (and now also deceased) daughter Jan in 1994. It’s not clear whether the new court ruling will bring Blake a share of […]
People, Booker Longlist and More
Jill Santopolo will join Penguin Children’s Philomel as executive editor in mid-August, reporting to Philomel president and publisher Michael Green. She was formerly senior editor at Balzer & Bray imprint. The Booker Prize Longlist was announced this morning, and Sarah Hall’s How to Paint a Dead Man is the only hope for independent publishers (with Random UK taking 5 slots). Coetzee is a two-time Booker winner; Byatt has won once. The Children’s Book, AS Byatt (Chatto and Windus)Summertime, JM Coetzee (Harvill Secker)The Quickening Maze, Adam Foulds (Jonathan Cape)How to paint a dead man, Sarah Hall (Faber)The Wilderness, Samantha Harvey (Jonathan […]
Sales Rise at Penguin on Currency; Profits Decline, But Education Powers Pearson Gain
Sales rose 22 percent at Pearson for the first half of their fiscal year, at 2.398 billion pounds, with earnings of 28 million pounds, compared to a loss of 62 million pounds this time a year ago. Education, which comprises over 60 percent of the total revenues, was up 29 percent for the period. Penguin sales of 452 million pounds were up 11 percent from a year ago, or 44 million pounds, though operating profit for the division fell 19 percent to 21 million pounds, down from 26 million pounds a year ago. The sales gain was due entirely to […]
People
At HarperCollins, Margot Schupf has been named to the new position of SVP, editorial director, digital publishing for the Morrow/Avon/Eos group. She will “oversee e-book publishing from a content perspective, working to create enhanced products that drive sales and create added value for readers.” Schupf will also acquire “high-profile non-fiction” for Morrow, focusing on lifestyle, diet, and health. At the Simon & Schuster imprint, Danielle Lynn and Kimberly Cowser have both joined the publicity department as senior publicists. Most recently Lynn was a publicist at CBS News, and Cowser was previously at Harper. Simon & Schuster Children’s has hired Fiona […]
Houghton Gets a Trade Publisher in Bruce Nichols, and More People News
In what many may view as a sign of at least temporary stability for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s adult trade lines, the unit has filled the vacant position of publisher. (Adult trade publisher Becky Saletan resigned last December and was not replaced.) Bruce Nichols–who saw his position as publisher of the Collins imprint diminished in the reorganization at HarperCollins in February that left him as publisher of the smaller Collins reference line and executive editor at Harper–will take the role as svp, publisher of of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Adult & Reference Group on August 3. HMH trade & reference president Gary […]