Britain’s surprising medal haul at the Beijing Olympics has prompted a flurry of interest in potential book projects, with agents sounding out publishers for deals for the likes of double-gold swimming champion Rebecca Adlington, medal-winning cyclist Victoria Pendleton and teenage diver Tom Daley. Giles Elliott, sports editor at Transworld, said that since Ben Ainslie’s gold medal win in sailing last Sunday, there have been agents trying to tout tie-in sports titles. “They have been going around trying to see what kind of interest there is,” he said. Tom Whiting, editorial director at Harper non-fiction, added: “There are a lot of […]
International News
Serbian Publisher Withdraws "Medina"
Serbian publisher BeoBook says that they have withdrawn their printing of Sherry Jones’ novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA “because of protests from local Islamic leaders who said it insulted Muhammad and his family,” the AP reports. (By other accounts, the protests were led by one a Belgrade mufti–and another mufti spoke out against the intimidation.) The company expressed “apology and regret” to Muslims as part of a statement posted on their web site. They are said to have printed approximately 1,000 copies of the book a few weeks ago. The Washington Post files a long piece on the larger controversy […]
Penguin Launches Dating Website
Penguin is launching a dating website aimed at book readers as “a place to meet and indulge in the age-old art of writing love letters”. in conjunction with online dating giant Match.com.The Bookseller
Melbourne New Unesco City of Literature
Three days before the opening of the Melbourne Writers Festival, UNESCO has named Melbourne as its second City of Literature. Edinburgh became the first in 2004. Arts Minister Lynne Kosky said the decision was confirmation of the value of a lot of people who have been working in the literature industry – writers and publishers and those who support writing and publishing. “It gives confirmation to them not only about the work they’ve done but the quality and also the importance of their work to our city and why they are a critical component of it. Also what it (the […]
Meyer Hit May End Staggered Release Dates in India
The simultaneous release of Stephenie Meyer’s BREAKING DAWN in a number of countries not only bumped up worldwide sales, but might bring release dates in India in line with global standards.The book was published there as a large-format trade paperback on August 14 – a full twelve days after its US release date – and has sold 23,000 copies to date. “We wanted this book early, but it did not happen, because India is not a fully mature market,” said Thomas Abraham, managing director of Hachette in India. A staggered release “ensures that publishers can split the market between formats […]
Kafka's Estate, Possible Pornography in the News
The recent death of Esther Hoffe, secretary to the man who famously defied Franz Kafka’s wish for his papers to be burned, has put the estate in question – and in the news again. As her mother did, reports the NYT, Hava Hoffe is keeping scholars and archivists up at night wondering about the condition of what they believe are letters, diaries, photographs and perhaps unpublished works of Kafka and Brod. “This material belongs in Jerusalem,” argued Mark Gelber, a Kafka scholar and a professor of comparative literature at Ben Gurion University in Beersheba. “Brod became a Zionist before the […]