John Bolton is on a little tease tour this week, appearing for an interview at Duke University on Monday (and moving on to Vanderbilt). He avoided answering controversial questions while suggesting the answers were in his forthcoming book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED: “You’ll love Chapter 14.” The manuscript has yet to receive government approval and therefore unlikely to make a print release date of March 17. “I really hope it is not suppressed,” Bolton said of his book. “I say things in the manuscript about what he (Trump) said to me,” he added. “I hope they become public someday.” […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
Flatiron Books Cancels American Dirt Tour, Acknowledges “Serious Mistakes In the Way We Rolled Out this Book”
Flatiron Books president and publisher Bob Miller addressed the “backlash” against Jeanine Cummins’ AMERICAN DIRT in a letter Wednesday afternoon cancelling her book tour due to “our concerns about safety.” He notes, “Based on specific threats to booksellers and the author, we believe there exists real peril to their safety.” The cancellation looks to be immediate, starting with tonight’s planned event at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA, which the store now lists as cancelled. Instead, they “will be organizing a series of townhall meetings, where Jeanine will be joined by some of the groups who have raised objections to […]
Author and Publisher Say There Was “No Coordination” In Releasing Bolton Book Info Online Sunday
John Bolton, Simon & Schuster and Javelin Literary, in a group message, “categorically state that there was absolutely no coordination with the New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, at online booksellers. Any assertion to the contrary is unfounded speculation.” That denial still doesn’t really explain what happened and how S&S came to release metadata to online booksellers Sunday and start taking pre-orders — but the publisher still declines to say anything more. Meanwhile, in a second story filed by the NYT Monday night, reporters Michael Schmidt and […]
Flatiron Cancels Two American Dirt Events, As Oprah Promises “A Deeper and More Substantive Conversation” In March
Objections to Jeanine Cummins’ novel AMERICAN DIRT continue to reverberate as the author is in the midst of an extensive national tour. Publisher Flatiron Books cancelled her scheduled Monday night appearance at Warwick’s in La Jolla, CA, which had been listed as “full,” and Tuesday night’s event to be held by Vroman’s. Warwick’s indicated the publisher’s decision was “due to safety concerns.” Events at two other California booksellers are still on the schedule for later this week. Separately, Sunday’s offsite event in conjunction with Left Bank Books in St. Louis, MO was cancelled by the store, following “posts on social […]
John Bolton’s Book Leaks — And Is Listed for March 17 Publication
On Sunday the NYT ran a story based on “drafts of a manuscript” by former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Within hours of that story going live, Amazon posted a pre-order listing for the book — which had not been officially announced or even confirmed by any of the parties — offering the 528-page THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, scheduled for March 17 publication. They showed the cover and a brief description from publisher Simon & Schuster, so clearly their listing was based on official metadata, but the publisher declined to answer our questions about how that data was approved […]
People, Etc.
Lance Fitzgerald will move over to Penguin Random House Audio, in the new position of vp, content and business development, reporting to Amanda D’Acierno. He has been vp & director, subsidiary rights at Crown. He will be responsible for growing the list to “include foreign-language publishing, original audio publishing, and to deepen our connection to theatre.” With Fitzgerald’s appointment, svp and associate publisher Amy Metsch “has decided to leave the company” after 17 years there. Additionally, Catherine Bucaria has been promoted to director, acquisitions & editorial operations, reporting to Fitzgerald. Laura Schreiber has joined Jimmy Patterson as editorial director. She […]