You’ve seen the dozens of lists we have linked to over the past six weeks or so and now here is the complete and final tabulation of the very best of the “best of 2010” lists. We have compiled lists from 30 sources in all (itemized at the bottom) to determine the consensus favorites shown below. For each title we show the total number of “votes” received, and this year in a new twist we have endeavored to list the editors and agents behind the books as well. For those who prefer a neater Top 10 overall list, we have […]
Agent Jonathan Dolger, 72, Dies
Sadly we report the first obituary of the new year: Jonathan Dolger, renowned editor and agent, and husband of Jane Isay, died on New Year’s Day. He was 72. A longtime editor at Simon & Schuster and Harper, he published The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, Against our Will, by Susan Brownmiller, and many popular novels including Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Oh, God, and To An Early Grave. As an agent he represented Scott Peck, Rebecca Wells, and many others. He was treasured for his wit, warmth and excellent judgment. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, January […]
Nielsen BookScan UK’s Top 50 Books of 2010
The Guardian has downloadable spreadsheets of the top 100 books of the year in the UK, along with the top 100 books since Nielsen BookScan started collecting UK point-of-sale data in 1998. Here are the top 50 books of last year. Despite all the opening-day attention for former prime minister Tony Blair, he finishes the year in 27th place: 1 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 1,156,530 2 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest Stieg Larsson 995,845 3 The Girl Who Played with Fire Stieg Larsson 957,063 4 Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals Jamie Oliver 874,546 5 The Lost […]
The Grinch Goes to Borders, As Major Vendor Payments Are Delayed
Borders warned investors on December 9 that they faced a potential “liquidity shortfall” in early 2011 and within the last 24 hours that warning has turned into reality for some of its major supporters–including big publishers. People familiar with the communications tell us that Borders ceo Mike Edwards contacted some publishers recently to indicate that Borders would be postponing payments due, now that the holidays are over. The Borders executive team is due in New York in early January, we are told, both to discuss next steps with major vendors and to present their case to banks and investors. According […]
A Little Slower than Amazon, BN Issues Nook Sales Superlatives (As eBooks Outsell Print on BN.com)
Barnes & Noble is playing catch-up with Amazon’s stream of releases about how Kindle is bestest, fastest, biggest-selling item. BN says they have sold “millions” of Nook devices, declaring “the line has become the company’s biggest bestseller ever in its nearly 40-year history.” More interesting is that they “now sell more digital books” (presumably calculated in units rather than dollars) than printed books via BN.com. Despite technical problems (which are not mentioned in the press release), BN says they sold “nearly one million” ebooks on Christmas Day–giving you some idea of how many Nook readers were under the tree. Release […]
A Look Back At 2010
I’m usually not big on grand end-of-year lists and proclamations, but 2010 certainly has been the busiest, most complicated and most fascinating year since I stumbled my way into Publishers Lunch just over 10 years ago. It has been a challenge and a pleasure to lead the way with coverage of some of these complex new developments, including the first comprehensive story on the invention of the agency model and similar breaking pieces on agency’s sales tax complications, the agency/wholesale hybrid model, the antitrust investigation in Texas, and more. Every year, our “person of the year” is really you, our […]