Filipino author Miguel Syjuco has won the Man Asian Literary Prize for ILUSTRADO, a about “a young Filipino caught within a notorious scandal spanning over the Philippine history.” The judges said it “seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and sociopolitical insight in the most satisfying measure. Brilliantly conceived, and stylishly executed, it covers a large and tumultuous historical period with seemingly effortless skill. It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humor.”Prize site
Sarah Silverman Auction, Too
We had heard about the $7.5 million kicking around for Jerry Seinfeld, but now the Observer says Dan Strone is also auctioning a book by Sarah Silverman, with bids said to have reached $2.5 million.Observer
Amazon/Penguin Contest Returns
The e-tailer’s Breakthrough Novel Award competition will return for a second year, open to new manuscript submissions as of Groundhog’s Day, 2009, and once again they will partner with the Penguin Group. Amazon calls the first contest “enormously successful,” despite the tepid response from the marketplace to the August release of winner Bill Loehfelm’s FRESH KILLS. (Loehfelm’s book has sold approximately 4,000 copies through outlets tracked by Nielsen Bookscan.) But Penguin has acquired rights to four of the other ten finalists: Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan (Amy Einhorn Books, July 2009); The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eisdorfer (Putnam, […]
Show Director Acknowledges BEA at a "Crossroads"
In a blog post, BEA show director Lance Fensterman writes, “BEA is at a cross roads, this point is not lost on me or the BEA team, but at the crossroads I see opportunity and I believe we are aggressively working through a process to evolve the show and serve our customers and our industry ever better.” He adds, ” the current climate has accelerated our action and our customers’ desire for action.” That action includes creating “an executive steering committee to advise us on the most top level issues.” Fensterman says they are examining a number of “big issues,” […]
Reed Acknowledges RBI May Not Sell
In a brief trading update, Reed Elsevier management had this to say about the sale of their b-t-b inesmagaz: “The process of divestment of Reed Business Information is at an advanced stage although in the present economic and credit environment a satisfactory outcome cannot be certain. As part of the process, a consortium of financing banks are in discussions with a small number of prospective buyers to provide financing. Reed Elsevier has indicated a willingness to provide financing support for any successful bid.” They also noted: “The performance of the magazine and information business has held up well during the […]
eNews: Stats on King's Video Promo; Google Previews at Borders;
Simon & Schuster says their 25 promotional short graphic-video episodes based on Stephen King’s short story “N” were viewed over one million times online and via mobile phones. The company declined to break out sales via iTunes, but spokesman Adam Rothberg says “the downloads and revenues were a very healthy number that exceeded our expectations, especially given that it was also available for free.” He also indicates that promotion produced “higher” pre-orders for the just-released book JUST AFTER SUNSET. Scribner printed “about 20,000” copies of a higher-priced collectors set that includes all of the video episodes on DVD, “which is […]