Knopf publisher Sonny Mehta will receive the London Book Fair’s Lifetime Achievement Award in International Publishing. Nancy Planitzer is joining Greater Talent Network as an account executive as part of their Publishers Speakers Bureaus division (which works with both SImon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group). She was formerly an account coordinator with the Macmillan Speakers Bureau. Franklin & Siegal has been appointed literary scout for China Citic Press in Beijing. Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman are co-writing and executive producing a drama for HBO, currently called Hobgoblin, about “a motley group of con-men and magicians who use […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
Upcoming: Stephen King’s ’11/22/63′; George RR Martin’s Next Game of Thrones Novel; Billy Joel’s Memoir
Stephen King‘s next novel 11/22/63, a 1000-page book “counterfactual” account of the JFK assassination, will be published by Scribner and Hodder & Stoughton on November 8. Announcement The next installment of George RR Martin’s Song of Ice & Fire epic fantasy series will be released by Del Rey/Spectra on July 12. A Dance with Dragons is “close enough to being finished” and comes six years after the previous series entry. EW Finally, HarperCollins will publish Billy Joel’s memoir State of Mind on June 14. The book will explore the “emotional ride” of Joel’s marriages and his struggles with depression and substance abuse.
Leak of Unsold Palin Tell-All By Former Aide Draws Attention
On Friday a manuscript of a tell-all by former Sarah Palin chief of staff Frank Bailey was leaked widely. Originally called Renegade: Sarah Palin’s Hatchet Man, the 456-page manuscript is now called Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years. (By one account, Bailey first tried to sell a book in 2009 after Palin resigned as governor of Alaska.) It’s co-written with Jeanne Devon and Ken Morris, who says the leaked version is an “unauthorized draft” that is still being revised. He claims the release was “an unethical breach and I’m disgusted by it.” The pitch letter […]
Briefs: New Eugenides Novel; Excerpts of New Bolano and Gov. Patrick Books; and More
Jeffrey Eugenides‘ first novel in nine years (and his first since the Pulitzer Prize winner MIDDLESEX) will be published by FSG in October. Catalog copy describes THE MARRIAGE PLOT as “a brilliant, funny, and heartbreaking novel about the glories and vicissitudes of young love”, with the 576-page novel priced as a $28 hardcover. FSG will also publish Roberto Bolano‘s previously undiscovered manuscript THE THIRD REICH in November, with an excerpt running in the spring issue of The Paris Review – the first time the magazine has excerpted a novel in nearly 40 years.WSJ In his forthcoming memoir, Massachusetts Governor Deval […]
Briefs: National Festival Expands, Bristol Palin Writes, Kindle Gets Page Numbers, and More
The National Book Festival, held annually on Washington, DC’s National Mall, will expand to a two-day event this year, convening September 24 and 25. The Library of Congress says “the added day will let us plan for at least 90 authors over the entire weekend.” The media found a preliminary metadata posting on Amazon for a memoir by Bristol Palin, set for publication by William Morrow on June 21. It was listed as a $25 hardcover. Amazon removed the listing, but the cached version is still viewable (for now). In separate Amazon-related news, the famously customer-centric is finally giving in […]
Mohamed ElBaradei’s Book Moved Up to Late April Release
Metropolitan Books has moved up their June release of Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei’s THE AGE OF DECEPTION: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times, to an international publication date of April 26, citing “recent events and bookseller demand.” They signed the book in March 2010.