Michel Moves to PFD William Morris UK managing director Caroline Michel is leaving the agency — and will take over as chief executive of PFD, hired by non-executive chairman of parent company CSS Stellar David Buchler.  (Buchler took that post just over a month ago, appointed after a group of investors took a large minority stake in the company). Top PFD agents have been trying to arrange a management buyout from CSS this year (at a bargain price) — and resisting efforts by CSS to sell the agency to a third party. But the appointment of Michel is a clear […]

9/11 Remains the Stuff of Nonfiction USA Today continues the seemingly annual tradition of noting that 9/11 has engendered lots of books, but they’re almost all nonfiction. They tabulate over 1,000 nonfiction 9/11-related books published in the past 6 years, and “only about 30” novels, of which “none has seized the public imagination.” On their own bestseller list, only two 9/11-related novels have charted: “The most ambitious 9/11 novel, Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, reached No. 99 on the list. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close peaked at No. 97.” (They cite Bookscan sales for Falling Man of 39,000 […]

Professional/Trade Rises at Wiley, As Overall Sales Nudge Up Overall sales reached $388.6 million at Wiley in their fiscal first quarter — significantly higher because of the inclusion of Blackwell Publishing, and up three percent, with the help of currency exchange, compared to Wiley-only results from a year ago — with earnings of $40.2 million. The professional/trade group turned in a stronger quarter, though, rising seven percent to $89.7 million, producing “contribution to profit” of $20.1 million. In the US, STM publishing was flat and higher ed publishing declined, while Wiley Europe grew 5 percent, mostly due to the weak […]

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 Mystery/Crime Chuck Barris’s WHO KILLED ART DECO?, about a Jewish PI in […]

POD Publishers Merge The parent company of self-publisher Author House announced the acquisition of iUniverse yesterday, on undisclosed terms, with the two units maintaining their separate identities under a broader banner of Author Solutions. Author House ceo Bryan Smith tells the WSJ, “This is about creating better options for our customers by combining a wide sweep of services. Cost-cutting isn’t the driver, although there will be savings because of economies of scale. The driver here is the opportunity for growth.” In the press release, iUniverse ceo Susan Driscoll says, “We have always been focused on providing authors with the publishing […]

Reidy Gets the Nod The possibility of Simon & Schuster CEO Jack Romanos’s retirement has been the subject of casual conversations for much of this year, with the two main questions being a) when and b) would CBS management promote current president of the adult publishing division Carolyn Reidy to the post. Today we have the answers: Romanos will retire at the end of the year, and Reidy will indeed take over as president and ceo. As Romanos says in a letter to employees, “with S&S in such robust health, I believe the time is right for me to retire.” […]