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The Power Plays at PFD Publishing circles have been buzzing with stories of exactly how the drama at British agency PFD has unfolded. As we reported on PublishersMarketplace last night, a source familiar with some of the literary agents and clients involved tells us that top literary agents including Caroline Dawnay, Pat Kavanagh and Robert Kirby (along with some of their other PFD colleagues) actually quit their positions at the agency a few weeks ago. The resignations are said to have come shortly after the new investors took a stake in the parent company CSS Stellar and installed David Buchler […]

Michel Moves to PFD William Morris UK managing director Caroline Michel is leaving the agency — and will take over as chief executive of PFD, hired by non-executive chairman of parent company CSS Stellar David Buchler.  (Buchler took that post just over a month ago, appointed after a group of investors took a large minority stake in the company). Top PFD agents have been trying to arrange a management buyout from CSS this year (at a bargain price) — and resisting efforts by CSS to sell the agency to a third party. But the appointment of Michel is a clear […]

9/11 Remains the Stuff of Nonfiction USA Today continues the seemingly annual tradition of noting that 9/11 has engendered lots of books, but they’re almost all nonfiction. They tabulate over 1,000 nonfiction 9/11-related books published in the past 6 years, and “only about 30” novels, of which “none has seized the public imagination.” On their own bestseller list, only two 9/11-related novels have charted: “The most ambitious 9/11 novel, Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, reached No. 99 on the list. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close peaked at No. 97.” (They cite Bookscan sales for Falling Man of 39,000 […]

Professional/Trade Rises at Wiley, As Overall Sales Nudge Up Overall sales reached $388.6 million at Wiley in their fiscal first quarter — significantly higher because of the inclusion of Blackwell Publishing, and up three percent, with the help of currency exchange, compared to Wiley-only results from a year ago — with earnings of $40.2 million. The professional/trade group turned in a stronger quarter, though, rising seven percent to $89.7 million, producing “contribution to profit” of $20.1 million. In the US, STM publishing was flat and higher ed publishing declined, while Wiley Europe grew 5 percent, mostly due to the weak […]

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 Mystery/Crime Chuck Barris’s WHO KILLED ART DECO?, about a Jewish PI in […]

POD Publishers Merge The parent company of self-publisher Author House announced the acquisition of iUniverse yesterday, on undisclosed terms, with the two units maintaining their separate identities under a broader banner of Author Solutions. Author House ceo Bryan Smith tells the WSJ, “This is about creating better options for our customers by combining a wide sweep of services. Cost-cutting isn’t the driver, although there will be savings because of economies of scale. The driver here is the opportunity for growth.” In the press release, iUniverse ceo Susan Driscoll says, “We have always been focused on providing authors with the publishing […]