It’s been almost a full year since Oprah made her most recent book club pick of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, and according to the Newtonville Books Community Blog, #63 will be a Little, Brown trade paperback title priced at $14.99, with an announced first printing of 500,000 and ISBN # 978-0-316-08637-0. Amazon reports differing metadata, listing the Oprah #63 pick as a $23.99 hardcover with an ISBN of 978-0-316-08636-3. Neither listing includes an approximate page count. On Twitter, Oprah implored viewers to tune in on Friday, September 18, saying she’d “never made a selection like ‘this.'” […]
New Four-Book Deal for Lemony Snicket
Egmont acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for a new four-book series by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler), whose 13-book “Series of Unfortunate Events” have sold over 60 million copies worldwide and been translated into 39 languages. The first book in the new, untitled series will be published in 2012. No US publisher has been announced, and when reached for comment, HarperCollins Children’s Executive Director of Publicity Sandee Roston said “I am not aware of a deal at this time.” Snicket’s agent, Charlotte Sheedy, is away on vacation and couldn’t be reached for comment.Guardian
President Obama's Summer Reading Choices
As reported widely, President Obama has taken the following books on his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard: The Way Home by George Pelecanos Lush Life by Richard Price Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tom Friedman John Adams by David McCulloughPlainsong by Kent HarufLAT
People and Announcements
Jim Joseph has officially been named president and publisher of Globe Pequot Press after serving in that capacity on an interim basis for the last month. Previously he was COO of the company. Lawrence Dorfman has also been promoted to vice president, sales. Previously he was executive director of national accounts. Rob McMenemy has been appointed regional manager for Egmont’s Central Europe Area and Egmont Holding, Germany. He will continue as senior vice president and managing director of Egmont UK. Teresa Fogarty has been named partner in the new media and marketing strategy company BookstoFilm.tv. Erzsi Deà k has joined Editions […]
Jane Friedman Raises $3M in Funding for E-Book Startup
Documents filed with the SEC on Friday indicate that former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman has raised $3 million from Bay Area Holdings Inc., a fund of venture capital firm Kohlberg Ventures, for her new company, OpenRoad Integrated Media LLC. Jeff Sharp, an independent movie producer, and Chris Lederer, former CMO at HarperCollins, are listed as executives of OpenRoad, which lists a Spring Street address for its offices. Reiter, Kailas & Rosenblatt represented OpenRoad, described on the law firm’s website as “a start-up entity which is engaged in developing a platform for eBook marketing and publishing.” PW also notes that Sharp […]
Venezuela's Crackdown on Book Imports Hurts Booksellers, Publishers
In March 2008, what was originally seen as a “minor bureaucratic change” to downgrade the import status of books from “essential goods” to requiring government certification of how many copies could be brought in has, according to Publishing Perspectives, begun “gradually choking off the flow of imported books, which make up 80% of the market in Venezuela” and created a “catastrophic” shortage of books. With bestselling titles, even if demand is great, only a select number of copies may be approved at one time and by the time a publisher is allowed to reapply for permission to import additional copies […]