A packed London Book Fair panel today gathered today four UK-based big houses ceos: John Makinson from Penguin, Tim Hely-Hutchinson from Hachette UK; Gail Rebuck from Random House UK; and Victorian Barnsley from Harper UK; each expressing varying degrees of the requisite “enthusiasm” about digital opportunities current and future. True to form Hely-Hutchinson remains the most cautious member of this group: ebooks “will have a place in the market, but its not the end of the story.” (He sees ebooks as only 5 percent of the market in five years.) He warned that it would be “very foolish to be […]
Penguin International Deals Include Chinese eBook Partner
True to the international spirit of the London Book Fair, Penguin made multiple announcements at a press briefing this morning related to its far-flung English-language empire. Starting in May, they will issue the full range of digitized Penguin UK and Dorling Kindersley titles (now comprising over 2,000 books) as ebooks in China with Beijing-based partner Founder Apabi Group in the company’s proprietary format. Founder Apabi is save to have an estimated 80 percent share of the ebook market, with over 500,000 tiles from Chinese publishers. Approximately 80 percent of the market is in library sales, with consumers comprising the remainder, […]
Orange Prize Shortlist Announced
To fuel some rights sales, the shortlist was named this morning in London: Scottsboro, by Ellen FeldmanThe Wilderness, Samantha HarveyThe Invention of Everything Else, by Samantha HuntMolly Fox’s Birthday, Deirdre MaddenHome, by Marilynne RobinsonBurnt Shadows, Kamila Shamsie
Pulitzers to Kitteridge, Meacham and More
The Pulitzer Prizes for books included a repeat win for NBA winner Annette Gordon-Reed. Sales as tracked by Nielsen BookScan show relative parity among three of the four winners to date in the outlets tracked by the service. The fiction winner sold close to 12,000 copies in hardcover and almost 44,000 in paperback so far; The Hemingses of Monticello is up to just over 45,000 hardcovers after the NBA win; and Slavery by Another Name has sold approximately 22,000 hardcovers and 4,000 trade paperbacks. American Lion is in a completely different class, with registered sales of close to 360,000 copies, […]
WMA-Endeavor Merger "Imminet"
After many rumors and denials, the Hollywood Reporter says that the merger of William Morris and Endeavor is expected shortly, barring any “last-minute glitches”–though they imply the deal still requires approval from each agency’s board. They add: “Although details of the structure of the new entity have not been revealed, Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel is expected to assume day-to-day control of the merged entity as CEO, with WMA chief James Wiatt taking on an oversight title like chairman.” The magazine also expects “a wrenching period of assimilation” as the agencies merge staff.Hollywood Reporter
Dan Brown Ready to Save Fall
Knopf Doubleday has announced that Dan Brown’s THE LOST SYMBOL will publish September 15, with a first printing said to be five million copies. Featuring the protagonist from the Da Vinci Code, Brown’s editor Jason Kaufman says “this book’s narrative takes place in a twelve-hour period, and from the first page, Dan’s readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape. The Lost Symbol is full of surprises.” Brown adds, “This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey. Weaving five years of research into the story’s twelve-hour timeframe was […]