Former ceo of Bantam Books Oscar Dystel, 101, “widely acknowledged as one of the great architects of modern trade publishing”, died Wednesday morning. As chief executive and publisher of Bantam from 1954 through 1978 (with another two years as chairman) Dystel was responsible for some of the most successful paperbacks in the 20th century including EXODUS by Leon Uris; JAWS by Peter Benchley; and Jacqueline Susann’s VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. In a statement Random House paid tribute to Dystel as “a mentor and muse for innumerable authors and past and present colleagues of ours throughout publishing. He was a giant, […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
Author’s Note Previews Hillary Clinton’s Forthcoming HARD CHOICES
Simon & Schuster released a four-page author’s note that will accompany Hillary Clinton’s forthcoming memoir HARD CHOICES, publishing on June 10. In the note, Clinton said she wishes “we could go back and revisit certain choices,” as is “usually the case with the benefit of hindsight.” But, she adds, “I’m proud of what we accomplished. This century began traumatically for our country, with the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the long wars that followed, and the Great Recession. We needed to do better, and I believe we did.” In making the major decisions of her life, from accepting the job as Secretary […]
Hachette Promises to “Spare No Effort” In “Exploring All Options” in Dispute with Amazon
Hachette Book Group issued a new statement Friday evening in the wake of Amazon’s removal of pre-order capabilities on forthcoming Hachette titles, which itself stemmed from an ongoing dispute over terms. “We are determined to protect the value of our authors’ books and our own work in editing, distributing, and marketing them,” the publisher said. They add, “We hope this difficult situation will not last a long time, but we are sparing no effort and exploring all options.” But the company is not prepared to say what those options might include yet. Separately, the NYT is last on the beat in […]
Amazon Removes Pre-Order Capability On Many Forthcoming Hachette Titles
Amazon’s slowdown of their business with Hachette Book Group as the parties battle over terms took another turn Thursday evening, as site visitors noted on social media the disappearance of pre-order buying capability for print and Kindle editions of many forthcoming HBG titles. Among affected titles due for publication in June are JK Rowling’s next Robert Galbraith novel SILKWORM; Michael Koryta’s THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD; Megan Abbott’s THE FEVER; Elin Hilderbrand’s THE MATCHMAKER, and Tom Rob Smith’s THE FARM, plus Anne Rivers Siddons’ THE GIRLS OF AUGUST (due in early July). The affected books now display as “currently unavailable” and offer to have customers “sign […]
Authors: John Green’s Fame Intensifies; Foer “Cultivates Thought” at Chipotle; and More
The Wall Street Journal profiles John Green at length a few weeks in advance of the release date for the highly-anticipated film version of THE FAULT OF OUR STARS, which the paper reports has sold more than 9 million copies in print. In trying to “pinpoint when Green went from being famous on the Internet to being just plain famous” the paper says “he avoids making physical contact with strangers and feels unsettled by the massive crowds he has been drawing during a nationwide tour” which included a recent screening for fans at a mall in Miami where “some 5,000 […]
People, Etc.
At Crown, Sarah Breivogel has been promoted to executive publicist; Dyana Messina moves up to assistant director of publicity; and Lauren Kuhn has been promoted to publicist. At Clarkson Potter, Anna Mintz has been promoted to publicity manager, while Natasha Martin moves up to associate publicist. In the UK Jacqui Small, publisher of eponymous Jacqui Small imprint, will take on the additional new role of group publisher at Quarto UK (which includes Small’s line as well as Aurum Press and Frances Lincoln). The FT features an interview with Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe. On his efforts to expand the company, he […]