Last May JK Rowling‘s agents at the Christopher Little Agency upgraded their position on the possibility of Harry Potter ebooks from “monitoring” the field to “actively” evaluating and “”currently considering all the options and opportunities.” Now there is a fresh round of media attention as a spokeswoman for Rowling reiterates the same thing to the Daily Mail: “The ebook format is now something that is being actively considered.” Neil Blair from the Christopher Little Agency also stands on his previous remarks, saying “we are continuing with our evaluation of all options relating to Harry Potter ebooks.” The Daily Mail The […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, April 4
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 Suzanne Joinson’s debut A LADY CYCLIST’S GUIDE TO KASHGAR, exploring the […]
People: Machinist Moves to Janklow, and More
Literary agent Alexandra Machinist is leaving the Linda Chester Literary Agency to join Janklow & Nesbit Associates. Mort Janklow says in the announcement, “Alexandra is another example of the kind of bright and established younger agents whom we have been bringing into our firm.” Phil Budnick has been named editorial director of Plume. He spent the past ten years as a national account sales manager for Penguin. In promotions at Crown, on the trade team, Sarah Brievogel moves up to assistant director of publicity and Dyana Messina is now senior publicist, as Julie Cepler becomes associate marketing director. At Crown […]
Briefs: Billy Joel Cancels Memoir; Open Road Projects $10M in Sales in 2011; and More
A little more than two months before HarperCollins was due to publish Billy Joel‘s memoir The Book of Joel, with a finished cover unveiled and a manuscript draft turned in, the book deal is off. “It took working on writing a book to make me realize that I’m not all that interested in talking about the past, and that the best expression of my life and its ups and downs has been and remains my music,” he said in a statement. Spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said that Joel’s memoir “was well into the editing process, but that Joel had not approved […]
Tackling Digital Relevancy at BISG’s NEXT Conference
Yesterday, Brian O’Leary kicked off BISG’s NEXT conference–Developing the 2020 Publishing Program–with a reprise of his Context First presentation (previously delivered at Books in Browsers and Tools of Change). “The challenge is not just being digital,” O’Leary said, “It’s about being relevant.” His vision of “a digital-first, content-abundant universe”, where users define their content consumption experiences and publishers must develop flexible processes and workflows, appropriately set the stage for the day’s challenge of developing strategies for a fictional publisher in the year 2020. In small working groups, participants outlined mobile and content strategies, addressed discoverability, and defined the publisher’s customer-base and core […]
The May 2011 Indie Next List
Here are the ABA’s May selections: 1. The Story of Beautiful Girl, by Rachel Simon Doc: A Novel, by Mary Doria Russell The Snowman, by Jo Nesbo, Don Bartlett (Trans.) The Year We Left Home: A Novel, by Jean Thompson Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II, by Mitchell Zuckoff The Coffins of Little Hope, by Timothy Schaffert You Believers, by Jane Bradley Caleb’s Crossing: A Novel, by Geraldine Brooks A Moment in the Sun, by John Sayles In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American […]