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 Julie Buxbaum’s debut novel THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, about a 29-year-old attorney who lost her mother as a teenager and finds her well-constructed life falling apart when she can’t commit to the man who […]

Frey Talks James Frey gives his first full newspaper interview since his lies were unmasked. The intervening months have provided little in the way of perspective and it’s a long piece to get through for slim payoff. He confirms the book was submitted — and rejected 17 times, including by Doubleday — as a novel. He does not account for precisely how the change was agreed upon with Nan Talese’s imprint (“it was never once discussed as fiction by me or anyone in my office”), but he does say: “The idea that nobody at the publishing company knew it was […]

Reshuffle Your Booker Deck The Booker Prize shortlist was announced earlier today, and as usual, the oddsmakers were wrong and all of the favorites — David Mitchell; Peter Carey; Andrew O’Hagan; Barry Unsworth; and Clare Messud — didn’t make it. The six finalists are Sarah Waters (The Night Watch), Kiran Desai (The Inheritance of Loss), Kate Grenville (The Secret River), M J Hyland (Carry Me Down), Hisham Matar (In the Country of Men), and Edward St Aubyn (Mother’s Milk). BN Eyes Israel; Keillor to Become Bookseller Thus far, Barnes & Noble has eschewed international expansion as rival Borders has become […]

BN Recommends Barnes & Noble has launched a seasonal BN Recommends pick, selecting “one book we love — a book that we know is a riveting read and a work of extraordinary quality worthy of stimulating discussion.” Their first pick is Diane Setterfield’s THE THIRTEENTH TALE. Rapper to Return Advance Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah was ordered to repay a $50,000 advance to HarperCollins by a Manhattan judge. He never delivered the manuscript for his memoir, originally due to the publisher in January 2002. NYDN Why Look, “JT” Has A New Proposal Having elicited her moment of news for an […]

Good Start for Wiley Wiley reported strong earnings growth again in their fiscal first quarter, up 9 percent to $35 million, on total sales of $263 million, which were 11 percent higher than a year ago. US professional and trade sales were up 9 percent as well, to $86 million, “led by business and consumer cooking, professional education, the online advertising program and the sale of rights.” Worldwide professional and trade sales rose 14 percent. Release Amazon May Kindle Proprietary e-Reader Tech blog Engadget posted pictures and details taken from an FCC filing by Amazon for an e-reading device, with […]

Personnel News Carroll & Graf editor-in-chief Philip Turner will be starting an eponymous imprint at the house focused on books by “truth-tellers, whistleblowers, and muckrackers.” Noting that it’s possible some books already acquired will be put under the new banner, Turner says the new line will appear beginning in their next catalog cycle, for spring/summer 2007. He describes it as “a purpose-driven imprint, thematically propelled by these kinds of authors and books. By aggregating them together, I hope that we’ll achieve a greater mass, providing a bigger megaphone than ever before.” Turner also will acquire for Thunder’s Mouth Press, where […]