Trouble for Teen Reading — Plus “Never Say Never” (Rowling), the Save Harry Petition, King’s Guess, and a Small-Press Potter Success This fall the NEA will release a report on a report on children’s reading habits that will highlight the drop-off in reading among adolescents. The Boston Globe has an early report (within a Harry Potter story today) that quotes chairman Dana Gioia: “Reading scores and rates seem to be going up in the age 7-11 range. But when kids hit high school, all the social pressure takes them away from reading and you see an enormous fall, to a […]

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 Padma Viswanathan’s THE TOSS OF THE LEMON, an historical novel, set […]

Developer Changes Heart on Dutton’s Gozillionaire Charles Munger has decided he doesn’t need to kill Dutton’s Brentwood and is dropping plans to create 60 luxury condominiums on the bookstore’s site in favor of a scaled-down plan for a two-story shopping complex. The new retail space will take care to keep Dutton’s in a new space, at “a very low rate.” The LAT adds, “the bookstore’s new quarters would be built first, Munger said, with the rest of the project going up ‘in little segments’ around it — a method that he said would cost significantly more money.” Munger now tells […]

Personnel News Garrett P. Kiely has been named director of the University of Chicago Press, the country’s largest academic press with a reported $60 million in annual revenue. He is currently president of Palgrave Macmillan, and will start the new job on September 1. Kiely succeeds the retiring Paula Barker Duffy, who led the press since 2001. Deputy director Chris Heiser is serving as interim director as of July 1. At Little, Brown Children’s, director of publicity Elizabeth Eulberg has been promoted to the new position of director of global publicity for Stephenie Meyer, author of the 2005 vampire novel […]

Cuts at Meredith The Des Moines Register reported that Meredith is going to lay off 15 people from their book division and eliminate various open positions, “citing lower than expected book sales.” A spokesperson said the remaining staff will number about 100. This report says Meredith “will refocus its book publishing efforts in areas where it has always been successful — building, cooking, crafting, gardening and remodeling,” pulling back from children’s and single-author books. DM Register Personnel News Helen Atsma will join Holt on July 19 as editor, adult trade.  She has been an associate editor at Little, Brown. Battle […]

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 Cocktails columnist for the NYT Jonathan Miles’ DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES, a comic […]