Sadly, the UK press is reporting that Frank McCourt‘s battle with skin cancer is near the end, citing a friend who indicates he “has deteriorated dramatically.” McCourt is reported to have been “transferred to a hospice at the weekend.”Belfast Telegraph The Observer reports that VS Naipaul has left longtime agent Gillon Aitken for Aitken’s one-time partner, Andrew Wylie. Wylie writes, “I think Vidia felt that it was, simply, time to move on. I can’t say with any authority what considerations were involved, but I do believe there is work to be done on the foreign rights side, as well as […]
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As Predicted, Commission Wants to End Books Protectionism In Australia After Three Years
Per our story yesterday, Australia’s Productivity Commission has indeed concluded that “restrictions on the parallel importation of books result in higher local book prices” and recommended an outright repeal, “with the industry having a period of three years to adjust before the changes take effect.” They do concede that enaction is likely to “cause some contraction or slowing in the growth in the book production industries.” If enacted, the $2 billion Australian trade market would become a significant growth market for exports from UK and US publishers. In balancing the decision, the commission suggests “that the current range of grants […]
Bookselling: Still Hoping to Finance Return of San Jose Store; UK Agents to Become Booksellers
San Jose’s independent store Willow Glen Books closed in May “because of decreasing sales and [owner Cathy Adkins] having to grapple with health issues,” but Roland Vierra is still working on a second attempt to get financing and start the store up again, in arrangement with owner Cathy Adkins. “Vierra said the owner of the building is willing to be patient while he works to get adequate financial backing to reopen the bookstore.”Business Journal In the UK, agents Sarah Lutyens and Felicity Rubinstein are opening a bookstore in London’s Notting Hill in October. They are recruiting a store manager now. […]
Announcements and More
* Twelve will release a deluxe $1,000 edition of Ted Kennedy’s memoir TRUE COMPASS, limited to 1,000 numbered leather-bound copies. They will reproduce an electronic signature by Kennedy, and include “rare family photos” that will not appear in the trade edition. But the special edition will follow the trade release by “several weeks.” It’s being sold directly through the HBG web site. * Graphic novel and comic book publisher Boom! Studios has signed with Simon & Schuster for sales and distribution, effective immediately.http://www.boom-studios.com * The Stanza reader, now owned by Amazon, wished itself a happy first birthday via a press […]
Sourcebooks to Delay Release of eBook Version of Hot New YA Novel
Big publishers throughout the industry have been quietly discussing postponing the release of ebook versions of their frontlist hardcover fiction after the dramatic spike in Kindle sales at the widely-despised (within the industry) $9.95 price point–but independent Sourcebooks is the first to score headlines for delaying an ebook release. The WSJ covers their decision to delay an ebook release of Kaleb Nation’s BRAN HAMBRIC: The Farfield Curse for at least six months. Sourcebooks has announced a 75,000-copy first printing for September and agent Richard Curtis concurs with the decision: “We don’t want to undercut the sales and royalty potential of […]
Spain's Three Biggest Publishers Form eBook Distribution Company
Planeta, Random House Mondadori and Santillana–which comprise 70 percent of the Spanish trade book market–have joined forces to set up an ebook distribution company. And apparently the three hope that together they can impose an economic model on the market–intending to sell ebooks at 80 percent of the print list price, paying royalty of 25 percent, and selling to booksellers at a 50 percent discount. But publishers intend to hold these terms only for two years, through 2011. Publishing Perspectives (the recently-launched newsletter from the Frankfurt Book Fair covering one issue of international interest daily, led by Ed Nawotka) reports: […]