The Hollywood Reporter says that “among the strongest contenders” for William Morris’s five board seats if the merger with Endeavor goes through are literary department co-head Jennifer Rudolph Walsh–plus president David Wirtschafter, COO Irv Weintraub, motion picture head John Fogelman and ceo Jim Wiatt. Multiple accounts estimate WMA’s revenues at $200 million, and Endeavor’s at about $100 million, though they are slated to have five board seats each. The Wrap says WMA currently has 300 agents and Endeavor employees 75–with unattributed estimates guessing that as many as 100 agents will be fired and/or leave.HR
Vig Sues Prince
Vigliano Associates filed suit against musician Prince in LA Superior County Court earlier this week, alleging that he designated them as the “exclusive agent with respect to the negotiations of a publishing deal” but then executed his deal directly with Atria for 21 NIGHTS and another book. Claiming wrongful avoidance of payment, Vigliano Associates is seeking commission due of $200,000, plus attorneys fees and other damages.Radar In other California lawsuits, Anna Nicole Smith’s half-sister Donna Hogan has sued Phoenix Books over her book TRAIN WRECK: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith. As reported by TMZ, on the one […]
It's a Rights Fair
So it’s looking a lot more like the third day of BEA here in London as the hard-core continue their work (often with suitcases nearby for tonight’s getaway) and the rest have fallen away, lightening aisles and rights tables alike. Even many of the scouts aren’t crazed with appointments today, which should tell you something. But anecdotal reports continue to indicate that a smaller, less frenized show has still been a fine show for the basic renewing of relationships and presentation of books for translation and secondary sales, along with ancillary international business of all kinds. As always, actual deal […]
UK CEOs Consider Emerging eBook World
A packed London Book Fair panel today gathered today four UK-based big houses ceos: John Makinson from Penguin, Tim Hely-Hutchinson from Hachette UK; Gail Rebuck from Random House UK; and Victorian Barnsley from Harper UK; each expressing varying degrees of the requisite “enthusiasm” about digital opportunities current and future. True to form Hely-Hutchinson remains the most cautious member of this group: ebooks “will have a place in the market, but its not the end of the story.” (He sees ebooks as only 5 percent of the market in five years.) He warned that it would be “very foolish to be […]
Penguin International Deals Include Chinese eBook Partner
True to the international spirit of the London Book Fair, Penguin made multiple announcements at a press briefing this morning related to its far-flung English-language empire. Starting in May, they will issue the full range of digitized Penguin UK and Dorling Kindersley titles (now comprising over 2,000 books) as ebooks in China with Beijing-based partner Founder Apabi Group in the company’s proprietary format. Founder Apabi is save to have an estimated 80 percent share of the ebook market, with over 500,000 tiles from Chinese publishers. Approximately 80 percent of the market is in library sales, with consumers comprising the remainder, […]
Orange Prize Shortlist Announced
To fuel some rights sales, the shortlist was named this morning in London: Scottsboro, by Ellen FeldmanThe Wilderness, Samantha HarveyThe Invention of Everything Else, by Samantha HuntMolly Fox’s Birthday, Deirdre MaddenHome, by Marilynne RobinsonBurnt Shadows, Kamila Shamsie