The latest Barnes & Noble Recommends selection is a children’s book for the first time: Gary D. Schmidt’s middle-grade novel OKAY FOR NOW. Clarion says they have a 150,000-copy first printing and a ten-city author tour planned. A further twist in the ongoing REDGroup Retail bankruptcy saga comes from the 25 Angus & Robertson franchise stores, who have been unhappy with how administrators Ferrier Hodgson have been handling matters. So much so that the stores have exercised their right to terminate on the basis of A&R’s “continued breach of the franchise agreement”, according to The Bookshop Bowral owner Marie Fitzpatrick, acting […]
People, Etc.: Seaver, Schillig, Norton, Watt and More
Co-founder of Arcade Publishing Jeannette Seaver will join Skyhorse as a consulting editor to continue working on the Arcade list, which Skyhorse acquired in late 2010. Andrews McMeel book division vp Christine Schillig will take on the role of executive editor “to fulfill her wish to devote additional time to editing and managing her list of authors, while continuing to supervise the editorial team.” The company is creating the new position of vp, executive producer, reporting to book division president Kirsty Melville. The new hire “will assume many of the administrative and management duties formerly held by Schillig,” lead their […]
Houghton Has Multi-Book Reprint Deal with Amazon Crossing and Encore
On Friday Crain’s reported that Amazon was among the bidders in the recent Amanda Hocking auction, citing “insiders” who say the etailer “actually made the highest offer of the six bidders,” but “insisted on exclusivity for the e-book edition.” Those “insiders” also say Amazon “brought in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt” as its print partner in the bid, though both Amazon and HMH did not comment to Crain’s for the story. What is clear, we can now report, is that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has made two print-only deals with Amazon for adult trade books. In the larger deal, HMH has licensed North […]
Borders Revises Recent Sales
In Borders’ extensive statement of financial affairs filed with the bankruptcy court last week, already covered here in general, we note that the company appears to have revised downward their estimate of sales prior to declaring bankruptcy. The statement puts fiscal 2010 sales at $2.177 billion, which is 5 percent lower than the sales of “approximately $2.3 billion” the company reported when they filed for Chapter 11 protection in February. That means our initial estimate of the decline in sales during 2010 was too low; by the new figures, Borders’ sales fell at least 17 percent over the past year. […]
eNews: Harry Potter eBooks Now in Play; Europe’s Slow Start; and More
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 […]