Book critics were ready to declare Roberto Bolano’s 2666 the novel of the year before it was even published so the National Book Critics Circle might as well have given it the award rather than just a nomination on Saturday, along with Dexter Filkins’ everybody’s Top Ten list THE FOREVER war. But the other categories and their nominees range a little further (and M. Glenn Talyor’s nominated novel The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart comes from the West Virginia University Press): FictionRoberto Bolano, 2666Marilynne Robinson, HomeAleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus ProjectM. Glenn Talyor, The Ballad of Trenchmouth TaggartElizabeth Strout, Olive Kittredge Nonfiction […]
From the UK: Sales Fall at Smiths; Waterstone's New "Hosts"; Puffing Caroline Michel and More
A burst of short items from the United Kingdom: Sales at WH Smith‘s high street stores for the nine weeks ending January 17 declined 7 percent compared to a year ago. (They were down 7 percent for the past 20 weeks as well on a comp basis.)Company release Over at Waterstone’s, Nick Hornby and Kate Mosse will merchandise special Writer’s Tables at the chain stores. (The program started last year with tables from Sebastian Faulks and Philip Pullman.) The Guardian redefines the paradigm of a puff piece, as their reporter is thrilled to get the “first interview” with Caroline Michel […]
Celebrity Books
Publicist Jayme Phillips confirms that her client, actor Patrick Swayze, intends to co-author a memoir with his wife Lisa. (Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year.) But Phillips says, “There’s no publisher. There’s no dates. There’s no anything else.”Reuters Separately, an entertainment wire service claims that Molly Ringwald is writing a book on life as a fortysomething for HarperCollins for publication later this year.Wire
Layoffs Hit Big University Presses
Cambridge University Press is laying off almost 160 people in the UK. Chief executive Stephen Bourne says: “We know that this is an incredibly difficult time for those staff that are affected and we will be doing all we can to support them through these changes.” He added, “This has been a very hard decision to make. There are parts of the business doing very well and a lot of them are overseas but two parts are not and one is simply not viable in the long term.” Hardest hit is their Cambridge Printing Services unit, where 133 jobs are […]
People
Headline publishing director Harriet Evans is leaving her job to focus full-time on writing, with her fourth novel due for publication this fall. Correcting yesterday’s report, Victoria Stapleton‘s promotion at Little, Brown Children’s is to associate director, school and library marketing.
Wimpy Opens Strong
In its first week on sale Jeff Kinney’s DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LAST STRAW recorded sales of approximately 240,000 copies in outlets tracked by Nielsen Bookscan, as publisher Abrams says that first day sale alone “exceeded 100,000 copies” and “first-week sales totaled more than 300,000 copies.” Two reprints comprising 500,000 copies will bring the copies in print up to 1.5 million units. Abrams ceo Michael Jacobs says, “Booksellers of all sizes are thrilled with the popularity of this series, and it’s clear that the huge response…has far exceeded expectations. In this difficult economic climate, with reports of bad […]