The final Potter novel, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, will release on July 7, 2009 from Scholastic, just under two years after the hardcover publication, priced at $14.95. With an announced first printing of 2 million copies, Scholastic says the total of Potter books in print in the US will reach 143 million copies. Separately, Amazon announced that for Rowling’s next charity book, THE TALES OF BEETLE THE BARD, they will provide December 4 release-day delivery for the standard shipping price on pre-orders (and free for their “prime” members). They anticipate first-day orders for “hundreds of thousands” of copies.
Journalist Tries to Verify Boy Soldier's Story
Journalist Malcolm Knox–who uncovered the lies in Norma Khouri’s book–worked with Sudanese refugee and one-time boy soldier Cola Bilkuei on his book COLA’S JOURNEY and was asked to verify the book’s accuracy. (Just published in Australia, it is not available elsewhere for now.) “So what are we left with? Aside from boy soldiers, a priest and a lawyer who knew Cola in Africa, we have the assurances of the Australian government, which gave Cola his first passport and checked on him through cousins who already lived here…. “Ultimately, though, between what could be verified and what lies on the pages […]
Another Fall Preview
The Seattle Times highlights “40 upcoming books looks from mid-September forward” though “like a bird-parent pushing the strongest fledglings out of the nest first, many of this fall’s books have already been released — and reviewed by The Seattle Times.” The editors write: “There’s a tradition in publishing that says the reading public gets distracted during an election season — best to stay away from ‘major’ book releases. Like so much else, this crumb of conventional wisdom has been swept under the rug.” Their Perfect Timing award goes to Michael Lewis for his December 1 release, PANIC: the Story of […]
A "Feast" of Lincoln Books
“At least 50 titles about Lincoln are due out between next month and early 2010, not counting those recently published,” the Boston Globe notes, with the bicentennial of his birth on Feburary 12, including “at least seven children’s books.” Simon & Schuster editorial director Alice Mayhew says, “People are hungry for details about Lincoln. He’s clearly the greatest hero, with a poignance and a sadness – what he had to endure as president and in his personal life.”Globe
Lunch Weekly for Monday, September 22
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 Filmmaker Shandi Mitchell’s UNDER THIS UNBROKEN SKY, about an immigrant family […]
Michigan Adds Espresso Book Machine
The University of Michigan has installed a machine from On Demand to print their own books one at a time, drawing on their collection of digitized out-of-copyright books, thanks to Google. They say its costs about ten dollars a book, and “the service is available to researchers, students and the public.” In the announcement, Michigan notes that their libraries have digitized “nearly 2 million books” since 1996.UofM post