After one of the strangest paths to publication we’ve seen, British musician Morrissey’s memoir AUTOBIOGRAPHY sold 20,000 trade paperback units in its first day on sale, Penguin UK reported. A spokesman for Waterstones Jon Howells explained to the AP, “In Britain, he is one of our icons. His is the great untold story from the ’80s generation of music heroes.” The author launched the book at a signing…in Sweden. Reviews in the UK newspapers have ranged from high to low. For a quick overview, the Daily Beast has already culled the “juiciest bits.” Though rights had not been sold previously […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
Over Government Objections, ATF Whistleblower Book Set for December
ATF agent and whistleblower John Dodson was in the news earlier this week because of moves by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to delay or block entirely his book, THE UNARMED TRUTH: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious — and support registered for Dodson from the ACLU. But on Friday, Threshold Editions officially announced the title for publication, and moved up planned publication from the January 14, 2014 date currently listed on bookselling sites to December 3. The book is billed as “a hard-hitting account that offers, for the first time, the inside story […]
Brad Stone’s Theory of Everything Jeff Bezos
Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Brad Stone‘s THE EVERYTHING STORE is excerpted on the cover of his employer’s upcoming issue. While the abridgment does not deal directly with Amazon and ceo Jeff Bezos’ relationship with the book trade — presumably such details are best left for the book itself, which will be released on October 15 — it offers a sense of the company’s “notoriously confrontational” corporate culture (which “begins with Bezos, who believes that truth shakes out when ideas and perspectives are banged against each other”), some insight into Bezos’ early childhood (Stone tracked down his biological father, Ted Jorgensen, who […]
Forthcoming: Nobel Literature Prize Announced Thursday; Morning Joe Hosts For National Book Awards; Russell Novella Leads Atavist Books List; and More
Just in time for Frankfurt, the Nobel Prize for Literature will announce its winner on Thursday, October 10, at 7 AM EDT. The National Book Awards will be hosted by “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Crain’s reported in advance of this morning’s official announcement. The show will also announce the award shortlists on October 16, repeating the same gambit as last year. Perseus ceo and National Book Foundation chairman David Steinberger said of Morning Joe duo, “If you want to reach the broader culture, they are the perfect vehicle”, but he is also their publisher (via Perseus […]
People, Etc.
Another set of Douglas & McIntrye alums — former publisher Trena White and former coo Jesse Finkelstein — have started a new company. Their Page Two Strategies is “a full-service publishing agency” that “will help non-fiction authors navigate their full range of publishing options, including self-publishing, and also provide consulting services to companies looking to develop or expand their own publishing strategies.” Page Two also has an alliance with the Translatlantic Agency, in which White and Finkelstein will represent some nonfiction in a traditional fashion, as associate agents. At Scribner, Kate Lloyd has been promoted to associate director of publicity. […]
October Bookseller Picks
Amazon named their best books of October, with Donna Tartt’s novel as their “spotlight” pick and Graeme Simsion’s novel (excerpted in our free Publishers Lunch Fall/Winter Buzz Books ebook sampler) as the “featured debut.” Two more Buzz Books from Elizabeth Gilbert and Luke Barr also make the list: The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert Provence, 1970, Luke Barr Thank You for Your Service, David Finkel One Summer: America, 1927, Bill Bryson Allegiant (Divergent Trilogy), Veronica Roth Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane The Circle, Dave […]