Jenny Rappaport has parted ways “amicably” with Lori Perkins after two-and-a-half years and has started her own literary agency, The Rappaport Agency. She will specialize in science fiction and fantasy, as well as YA, and romance. At the L. Perkins Agency, which will continue to focus on erotica and chick lit, horror and pop culture, Marsha Philitas has been promoted to senior literary agent. Separately, at LJK Literary Management, Meg Thompson has been promoted to literary agent. She joined the company in 2006 to do editorial work after working as a research assistant for President Clinton on his autobiography, and […]
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Redstone Has to Keep Reassuring Investors
Shares of CBS and Viacom have continued to fall recently as investors remained concerned that Sumner Redstone will be forced to sell some of his shares in order to refinance his $1.6 billion in debt. In a self-fulfilling spiral, the market worries that “further weakness would undermine Mr. Redstone’s talks with lenders and force him to sell stock in the two companies he controls.” The WSJ adds: “Redstone is expected to have to sell some assets to get bankers to agree to a restructuring. Advisers are combing through the family’s holdings to assess their value and ease of sale, according […]
Quercus Raising More Capital; Cheetham Steps Down
Shut out of traditional credit markets, Quercus is planning to raise 1.75 million pounds “in additional working capital and to strengthen its balance sheet,” nearly all of which will come from Pentland Group, which currently holds almost 20 percent of the company’s stock. Shareholders must approve a waiver from the takeover code, however, to allow Pentland to increase their stake to more than 30 percent. The thinly-traded company currently has a market cap of 3.1 million pounds, with the stock having fallen over 71 percent in a year. The immediate need is to refinance 775,000 pounds in loans that have […]
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Namrata Tripathi will join Atheneum Children’s as executive editor on December 8. She has most recently been senior editor at Hyperion Children’s. Additionally, associate editor Lisa Cheng will move from Margaret K. McElderry Books to Atheneum, reporting to Tripathi.
Amazon/Penguin Contest Returns
The e-tailer’s Breakthrough Novel Award competition will return for a second year, open to new manuscript submissions as of Groundhog’s Day, 2009, and once again they will partner with the Penguin Group. Amazon calls the first contest “enormously successful,” despite the tepid response from the marketplace to the August release of winner Bill Loehfelm’s FRESH KILLS. (Loehfelm’s book has sold approximately 4,000 copies through outlets tracked by Nielsen Bookscan.) But Penguin has acquired rights to four of the other ten finalists: Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan (Amy Einhorn Books, July 2009); The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eisdorfer (Putnam, […]
Show Director Acknowledges BEA at a "Crossroads"
In a blog post, BEA show director Lance Fensterman writes, “BEA is at a cross roads, this point is not lost on me or the BEA team, but at the crossroads I see opportunity and I believe we are aggressively working through a process to evolve the show and serve our customers and our industry ever better.” He adds, ” the current climate has accelerated our action and our customers’ desire for action.” That action includes creating “an executive steering committee to advise us on the most top level issues.” Fensterman says they are examining a number of “big issues,” […]