Touchstone editor-in-chief Trish Todd will leave that division after 15 years to move over to the Simon & Schuster adult trade imprint at the beginning of February. She will be executive editor, reporting to publisher Jon Karp. He writes, “to my surprise, I discovered the perfect choice right down the hallway” in his search for “a highly respected and experienced editor to acquire works of popular fiction, practical nonfiction and autobiography.” Karp adds, “In making the move to S&S, Trish recently expressed to me her desire to shift her focus away from management and return exclusively to her greatest joy, […]
Bookselling: Bids for Politics and Prose; Trouble in Minnesota
Politics and Prose co-owner Barbara Meade says the evaluation of bidders to buy the store is focused on six suitors, and the Washington Post says there is a January deadline for bids. A local consortium that includes agent Rafe Sagalyn, along with departy editor of the New Republic Franklin Foer, XM Satellite radio founder Hugh Panero, and Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg remains one of the contenders.Washington Post Separately, the Minneapolis Star Tribune looks at the wave of Minnesota stores that have closed recently–the latest are Biermaier’s Books in Minneapolis, “for 60 years among the largest used bookstores in Minnesota,” and […]
Time Magazine and The Boston Globe’s Top Books
Here are Time’s top 10 book lists for the year: Fiction 1. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen 2. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 3. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray 4. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell 5. Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon 6. Wilson by Daniel Clowes 7. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes 8. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu 9. The Passage by Justin Cronin 10. Faithful Place by Tana French Nonfiction 1. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 2. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee […]
Why This Philadelphia Cream Cheese Book Press Release Is (Or Isn’t) Funny
So over the weekend we ran a short link to Kraft Foods’ proudly announcing the publication of their “first branded ebook,” SPREAD A LITTLE JOY. Comprising 70 recipes, it’s purpose is to show that “it’s amazing what a little Philly can do. It’s more than an extra ingredient — it’s a secret weapon.” Once upon a time this kind of project would have been issued in conjunction with a traditional publisher, or at least a packager. (Indeed, Philadelphia Cream Cheese has a number of printed books available via Publications International.) But this ebook, on sale via Apple and Amazon, was […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, December 13
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 ARISTOCRATS author Stella Tillyard’s THE TIDES OF WAR, set between 1812-1815 […]
Washington Post’s Top 10
The Washington Post votes along with much of the consensus on their ten favorite books of the year, though they stubbornly refuse to ratify Jonathan Franzen and Isabel Wilkerson’s books: Nonfiction THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE: Clinton vs. Starr, by Ken Gormley JUST KIDS, by Patti Smith THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, by Rebecca Skloot THE BIG SHORT, by Michael Lewis THE TIGER, by John Vaillant Fiction FAITHFUL PLACE, by Tana French A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, by Jennifer Egan SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY, by Gary Shteyngart TO THE END OF THE LAND, by David Grossman ROOM, […]