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The Rights Battle that Never Went Away Hachette Book Group’s hard line on English-language rights in continental Europe — in which Tim Hely Hutchinson has decreed that the UK division will export to the rest of Europe exclusively whenever an author is shared with the American lines — has drawn viral protest in a letter to the company from the managing director of Portugese distributor Lisa, Karl Heinz Petzler. Petzler declares that the decision “only shows that the people inside your group who made this decision… do not really care about their customers, but also do not care about their […]

AP Drops Review Package The Associated Press is ending the book review package provided to newspapers, Editor and Publisher reports. A spokesperson says the “AP is revamping its Lifestyles coverage to focus more resources on topics like food and parenting, and as a result we are discontinuing the book-review package that had moved through that department.” She adds that book coverage will continue through the Arts and Entertainment Department, though the emphasis appears to be on news and features. EP Also from the newspaper world, MARLEY AND ME author John Grogan announces in a farewell column that he’s leaving the […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Tiffany Baker’s THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY, pitched as Wally Lamb […]

Amazon Sales Keep Rising North American media sales at Amazon were $1.251 billion for their fourth quarter, up 21 percent, and $3.582 billion for the full year, an 18 percent increase. International media sales are just shy of parity now, growing 29 percent to $1.247 billion for the quarter, and 3.485 billion for the full year. But profits fell sharply and gross margins at the company were the lowest they have been in seven years — so even though the company was ahead of analysts’ expectations, the stock has been hit this morning. Release Bloomberg March Book Sense 1. HEART-SHAPED […]

Harry Confirmed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be published at 12:01 AM on July 21, retailing for $34.99. Amazon is offering the book for pre-order at 46 percent off, plus a pre-order price guarantee in case someone else goes lower. They say “hundreds of thousands” of people had already registered for e-mail alerts once the book was available for ordering. The previous Potter book sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours. Indigo Finishes Year Well Earnings rose three percent at Canada’s Indigo for their fiscal third quarter, ending December 30, to $41 million (CA), as sales […]

German Publisher to Issue Guantanamo Prisoner’s Tale Murat Kurnaz, a German-born Turkish man who was imprisoned for years at Guantanamo Bay, will publish his memoir FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE: A Report from Guantanamo through Germany’s Rowohlt in April. The UPI notes, “Kurnaz was detained in Pakistan in 2001, turned over to U.S. authorities and held at Guantanamo as a terror suspect. He was released in 2006 and returned to Germany after a U.S. federal judge found that evidence did not justify his detention and Chancellor Angela Merkel intervened.” UPI Personnel News and Announcements At Rizzoli, Pam Sommers has been […]