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Michigan Will Continue Distribution The board of the University of Michigan Press decided unanimously to continue its distribution agreement with the UK’s Pluto Press, following controversy over the title OVERCOMING ZIONISM. They noted: “Currently, the press distributes for five publishers. As is the case with all such commercial arrangements, books distributed on behalf of clients are not edited, reviewed, or produced by the UM Press, and they do not bear the imprimatur of the press or of the University of Michigan.” They will, however, “develop policy guidelines for distribution agreements” for the future, noting that, “underlying its deliberations will be […]

Sales Up Over 40 Percent at Amazon, As Profits Surge Amazon’s sales hit $3.26 billion in their fiscal third quarter, as net income more than tripled to $80 million. The company expects sales growth to remain strong, predicting that revenues will rise between 28 percent and 37 percent in the fourth quarter. North American “media” sales (helped by the launch of their MP3 store) were up 38 percent, to $1.08 billion, still ahead of international media sales of $1.01 billion (up 33 percent). Amazon says they sold 2.5 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows worldwide, calling it […]

Shorts: — Barnes & Noble just named their sixth chainwide BN Recommends title: Maggie O’Farrell’s THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, which releases tomorrow. In the announcement, Steve Riggio calls it “a riveting work of literary imagination,” adding, “this suspense-filled novel will pull you right out of your chair and take you on a journey across continents and generations.” — St. Martin’s announced publication of Andrew Morton’s unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise for laydown on January 15, 2008. — This year the National Book Foundation has posted interviews with all 20 of this year’s award finalists, including the elusive Denis […]

Penguin Withdraws from eMusic Penguin’s “very senior management” has overruled Penguin Audio’s limited experiment with unprotected MP3 digital audiobooks as part of eMusic.com’s recently launched initiative and the company is withdrawing their files. But it appears to be a policy statement rather than a judgment based on the company’s experiences so far. Publisher Dick Heffernan tells the NYT, “At this moment we’re not going to have our titles on eMusic or with anyone else who sells non-DRM until the landscape shakes out and we feel very comfortable and confident that our titles will not be pirated.” He added, “We wanted […]

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 Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace.com if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form   FICTION Sci-Fi/Fantasy Diana Paxson’s SWORD OF AVALON, a posthumous sequel to Marion Zimmer […]

Blair Bidding The auction for Tony Blair’s book begins on Monday, and one participant says that as many as 10 publishers (or allied US/UK companies) are expected to bid. Blair held meetings with publishers in both the US and UK (and most US publishers sent at least one representative to sit in on the UK round of meetings, too.) There is no formal proposal in circulation, though attorney Bob Barnett followed up with participating publishers recently with a short list of topics and themes that will be addressed in the book. The UK trade press has been circulating the notion […]