After two books worth of milking his steroid accusations (one successful; the second, less so), former baseball player Jose Canseco now says in an A&E documentary he “regrets mentioning players [as steroid users]. I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people.” Oddly, in this ESPN write-up, Canseco says he would “apologize” to the baseball players named in his first book (Mark McGwire and others)–most of whom continue to be suspected or confirmed as one-time steroid users–but there’s no mention of players like Alex Rodriguez, accused in the more thinly-grounded second book JUICED. More to […]
More on Pat Kavanagh
The Guardian says the agent Pat Kavanagh’s death was due to a brain tumor, which the Times adds was diagnosed just five weeks ago. The Independent notes that “she had collapsed in the street two weeks ago and was staying in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Friends and family were privately told last week that her tumor was inoperable.” She was 68. They share testimonials from clients including Blake Morrison, Robert Harris, and Hermione Lee. Short story writer Helen Simpson, among visitors to Kavanagh’s home today, said: “It has been so very quick. It’s been like […]
Walesa Autobiography Rejects Agent Charge
In his just released autobiography, former Polish president Lech Walesa vigorously denies charges that he collaborated with the country’s secret policy for two years and informed on shipyard workers. “I want everything to be known, precisely,” Walesa writes. The AP says that, “In the book, he writes that, following his arrest in December 1970, authorities offered to release him from prison if he signed some documents. ‘I did not think long. I did not even read them,’ Walesa writes. ‘I signed a number of papers on leaving the arrest, which was a standard procedure. … I remember there were many […]
People
At Little, Brown Children’s, Dave Caplan has been hired as senior art director. He was art director at Harper Children’s. Bethany Brown is joining the Cadence Group’s newly-opened Chicago office as a senior associate, heading the Editorial Division as well as consulting with small to mid-sized publishers on editorial and workflow processes, contracts and acquisitions. Brown had been in the editorial department at Sourcebooks (and prior to that Adams Media), before going to work as a consultant. Rawi Hage’s COCKROACH, already in contention for the Giller Prize, now has a shot at Canada’s Governor General’s Award as well, with the […]
E and Free
Open-source college textbook company Flat World Knowledge announced the completion of $700,000 funding round, bringing total funding to date to $1.4 million. They say they expect “a larger Series A round from venture investors and/or strategic partners within the next six months.” In beta for the past few months, Flat World expects to have its national commercial launch in time for the 2009 spring semester. They are building their sales and marketing team, which now includes Sharon Koch as marketing director. (She was director of marketing for a division of Prentice Hall/Pearson Education.) And former Simon & Schuster ceo Jonathan […]
Frankfurt Stats
According to organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, every day at the show as busier than last year (though indeed the opening day, Wednesday, was the quietest of all). For the first three trade-only days they show visitors of: 10/15: 46,108 (+ 1.76 % to 2007)10/16: 58,772 (+ 2,4 %)10/17: 53,146 (+ 3,1%) And for the final two days, when the German public can attend: 10/18: 78.218 (+ 8.1%, and a new record total) 10/19: 62.868 (+ 11%)