Allen Lane and Knopf will simultaneously publish the first volume of Margaret Thatcher’s authorized biography, written by Charles Moore, “immediately following her funeral.” The biography of the former British prime minister, who died Monday at the age of 87, was commissioned in 1997 with the proviso that it would only be published after her death. (Volume one is called NOT FOR TURNING; the second and final volume, which Moore is currently working on, will be called HERSELF ALONE.) Moore was given full access to Thatcher’s private papers, and interviewed her extensively: “she supported all his requests for interviews with others, […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
April Bookseller Picks
Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life* is Amazon’s April spotlight pick, also featured on B&N’s books of the month and sharing April Indie Next No. 1 honors. As with Amazon’s “featured debut,” Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni, you can start reading excerpts of both right now in the current spring/summer edition of our ebook sampler BUZZ BOOKS 2013–where you will find two more Amazon April recommendations, The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer and a long preview of Michael Pollan’s Cooked. (View the full list of “buzz books” here to catch previews of more books-of-the-month to be, such as Anthony Marra’s May […]
Newsmaking Authors: Malala Yousafzai to Tell Her Story, and Amanda Knox April Release Remains On Track
Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban after her public advocacy for education for girls, is telling her story in a book that multiple Hachette imprints will publish, starting this fall, we can report exclusively. I AM MALALA will tell in her own words what happened the day she was shot, and share the inspiring story of her determination not be intimidated by extremists and recount the support of her family, which bolstered her remarkable courage. (A co-author will be named later, though Yousafzai first attracted international attention for her once-anonymous blog, […]
People, Etc.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has promoted evp of corporate affairs Mary Cullinane to the additional new role of chief content officer. She will “spearhead the company’s content development strategy for the K-12 education market and consumer audiences” and “develop the next generation of digital solutions while continuing to leverage the company’s existing products and iconic brands.” Caroline Riordan has joined Penguin as digital business director. Most recently, she was at Trailer Park, an entertainment marketing and content agency, and prior to that she was senior manager of ebooks and business development at Hyperion. Ann Treistman is joining Countryman Press as senior editor, looking […]
Jane Goodall’s Book Is Postponed After Newspaper Finds Borrowed, Unattributed Passages
Following a March 19 story in the Washington Post that found primatologist Jane Goodall’s planned April 2 release SEEDS OF HOPE “contains at least a dozen passages borrowed without attribution, or footnotes, from a variety of Web sites” (including Wikipedia), publisher Grand Central announced that Goodall “decided to postpone the release… so that we may have the necessary time to correct any unintentional errors.” She added in her statement: “It is important to me that the proper sources are credited, and I will be working diligently with my team to address all areas of concern. My goal is to ensure […]
With Geithner’s Deal, The Potential and The Challenge
As reported widely on Thursday–with a full deal report at PublishersMarketplace–the lengthy auction for former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s book has concluded with Crown winning rights and aiming for a 2014 publication. How much Geithner reveals and how book buyers feel about his record will certainly weigh heavily on the book’s performance when released. In anticipation of the sale, analyst Peter Hildick-Smith at book audience research firm The Codex Group queried a survey panel of just over 5,000 recent book buyers on Geithner’s “Author Equity” for us. (We’ll be featuring some other custom Codex Group research here in the days to come.) […]