Amazon has posted their “best books of the year store,” with lists of favorite titles across 23 categories–plus they have named their Top 100 editors’ picks for 2012, selecting Louise Erdrich’s The Round House as their “book of the year.” (The top 100 lists are their editorial selections; the category-based lists blend editors’ favorites and sales history). Here are their editors’ top 25 books: 1. The Round House, by Louise Erdrich 2. The Yellow Birds: A Novel, by Kevin Powers 3. Gone Girl: A Novel, by Gillian Flynn 4. The End of Your Life Book Club, by Will Schwalbe 5. […]
Simon & Schuster Also Offers Relief to Libraries and Retailers Damaged by the Storm
Following Scholastic’s million-book donation announcement Monday morning, Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy informed her employees of S&S’s relief efforts in a memo. They are offering “any public or school library damaged by Hurricane Sandy a donation of 500 ‘best of’ titles in order to help in the restoration of their collections.” So far they are working on concert with the Teachers College Reading, Writing Project’s Literacy Lifeboats initiative, and the New Jersey Library Association to reach libraries in need. The company is working with other relief organizations to provide free books to both children and adults displaced by the […]
Results Plunge at Cengage
Cengage has a new ceo, Michael Hansen (Ron Dunn is now executive chairman), who had the unpleasant task of announcing “very disappointing” results for the quarter ending September 30 last Friday: Sales fell 22 percent to $538 million, down from $692 million a year, and operating income declined 49 percent, to $122.7 million, less than debt service for the quarter of $131 million. Among the problems cited, “a significant reduction in the level of purchases by one channel partner contributed to the decline in revenues.” Net debt stood at $5.47 billion at the end of the quarter, and all of […]
People, Etc.
Ben George has joined Penguin as an editor, starting today. He was co-founder and editorial director of Lookout Books of Wilmington, NC and editor for the last four years of the literary magazine Ecotone. Kristen Fritz has been named senior director, content marketing, digital marketplace development at Random House, Inc. Clay Smith has joined Kirkus Media as features editor, reporting to chief operating officer Meg Kuehn. Most recently he was literary director of the Texas Book Festival. In the UK, Ella Diamond Kahn and Bryony Woods have launched a literary agency, Diamond Kahn and Woods. Diamond Kahn was an assistant […]
Author News: Roth Is Finished; Wiesel Book Claim Is Denied
Philip Roth has suggested in the past that he was finished writing new novels even though he published four works between 2006 and 2010, but last Friday a spokesperson for publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt confirmed to the New York Times a remark Roth originally made to a French publication: “To tell you the truth, I’m done,” Roth had said. “‘Nemesis’ will be my last book.” HMH’s Lori Glazer told the Times, “I spoke to Philip today and he confirmed that Nemesis is his last book.” But another story making the rounds last week can be debunked. In early November Israel’s […]
CIA Director Petraeus Resigns After Affair With Biographer Broadwell Disclosed
As you may have already noted, publishing has been featured in the fallout from CIA director David Petraeus’ resignation Friday afternoon,when he disclosed an extramarital affair with a woman later revealed to be Paula Broadwell, author (with Vernon Loeb) of the authorized biography ALL IN: The Education of General David Petraeus. Published by Penguin Press in January with modest results (it was No. 13 on the NYT nonfiction bestseller list for a week in February and fell off the list two weeks later), book sales rose online over the weekend, and the paperback is due for release next month. Penguin […]