We were just forwarded an internal announcement that Random House is freezing all pensions at their current levels and will not give pensions to new employees hired as of January 1, and now the news is the subject of an AP story as well. The article notes that “the company will continue to offer matching funds, up to 6 percent, for 401k plans.”AP In another Random House bulletin, their Canadian division has declined to exhibit at the next Book Expo Canada. President and CEO Brad Martin said in an e-mail they “feel the show is no longer effective in helping […]
NBA Sales: The Starting Line
By our informal online sales monitoring at Amazon and BN.com, the Obama Book Club recommendations continue to outpace Wednesday night’s National Book Award winners: Doris Kearns Goodwin: 14/17Tom Daschle: 18/49Jonathan Alter: 73/126 with Peter Mathiessen’s Shadow Country the closest contender. But, as more than one observer has pointed out via e-mail, the starting bar for sales of the award winners was pretty modest. According to Nielsen BookScan’s figures for sales through last Saturday, approximate sales for the NBA winners were: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed: 11,000 copiesShadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen: 6,000 copiesWhat I Saw […]
Trying to "Glam Things Up" at the NBAs
Grove Atlantic publisher Morgan Entrekin and agent Lynn Nesbit chaired the National Book Awards this year, “trying to move it out a little bit for people who are interested in books but aren’t necessarily in the business” as executive director Harold Augenbraum of the National Book Foundation tells the Observer. The article explains how that translated into action: “With the help of veteran literary agent Lynn Nesbit, Mr. Entrekin did the thing the only way he knew how: by moving the dinner from a tacky hotel in Times Square to Cipriani’s Wall Street; spiking the normal guest list of editors […]
Overall Ludlum Deal at Universal
Universal Pictures will build on their Bourne adventures franchise with an overall deal with the Robert Ludlum estate, acquiring exclusive rights to the Bourne character and a first look at all other Ludlum deals not under option elsewhere. Over 25 Ludlum novels have not been developed into movies, and the estate retains contractual approval over screenplays and actors. Henry Morrison and ICM represented the estate in the deal. The Matarese Circle is already controlled by MGM and Relativity, Paramount bought The Chancellor Manuscript, and Summit Entertainment has The Osterman Weekend, while Universal is developing The Sigma Protocol under a separate […]
Lannan Honorees; New Grand Masters
The Lannan Foundation announced its 2008 literary awards and fellowships: Literary AwardAugust Kleinzahler, Poetry Two-Year Literary FellowshipsCharles D’Ambrosio, FictionKatie Ford, PoetryIlya Kaminsky, PoetryGlenn Patterson, Fiction Notable Book AwardsBlack Mass, by John GrayLiving with Darwin, by Philip KitcherDemocracy Incorporated, by Sheldon S. Wolin Site Separately, James Lee Burke and Sue Grafton were both named Grand Masters of the genre by the Mystery Writers of America.
Imprint News
Candlewick Press will launch their first separate imprint, Templar Books, in spring 2009, in partnership with UK-based Templar Publishing. They’ll issue eight books in the spring and “nearly a dozen” in the fall. (Templar produces the bestselling ‘Ology series that Candlewick already publishes in the US.)