Book Sense Winners Following their new protocol, the ABA announced the Book Sense Book of the Year Award winners today, though formal presentations will still be held at BEA. The winners are: Fiction JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL, by Susanna Clarke Nonfiction SHADOW DIVERS: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II, by Robert Kurson Children’s (Literature) CHASING VERMEER, by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist Children’s Illustrated DUCK FOR PRESIDENT, by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin For the first time, the organization also named four honor […]
Lunch for Monday, April 11
Business Book Trends The Financial Times looks at the current state of business book publishing. Currency’s Roger Scholl says, “The market has forced us to be more discerning,” while Berrett-Koehler president Steve Piersanti remarks, “There has been a flight to the tried and true.” The FT says: “Readers appear to be more interested in turning to management classics than devoting time to the work of arrivistes. Publishers report a steady demand for titles such as Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, now in its 15th year in print, and Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard’s One Minute Manager, published in 1981 and […]
Lunch for Friday, April 8
NYSE Boots AMS The latest installment in the sad slide of Advanced Marketing Services (AMS) is that the company’s stock will be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange before the opening on the market on April 19. The move is due to the company’s failure to file its annual 10-K report with the SEC. The company expects to continue trading on the OTC Pink Sheets, though warns “there can be no assurance” that this will happen. We asked a hedge fund friend for a quick interpretation: “Being de-listed is reflective more than indicative of the company’s issues. Generally the […]
Lunch for Thursday, April 7
Executive Changes: Marcus to Leave Scholastic, and Whalen Exits Running Press Scholastic president of children’s book publishing and company evp Barbara Marcus has “decided to leave the company” following this summer’s publication of the next Harry Potter book, after 22 years at Scholastic. Disney Children’s Books publisher Lisa Holton will take over for Marcus. Marcus says in a statement, “I have had a truly extraordinary experience and opportunity at Scholastic,” said Ms. Marcus. “The authors, illustrators and especially my colleagues have made my years here a most special time. I feel now is the right time to leave, having accomplished […]
Lunch for Wednesday, April 6
Tomorrow I’ll be at the BISG conference all morning, so Lunch will likely be served after lunch instead. After All That: Weinstein Weisbach Hiring Announced It’s officially official, as in actually finalized and announced. Despite the many mangled speculative reports that preceded it, the news is relatively straight-forward: Rob Weisbach will serve as president and CEO of both the current Miramax Books and The Weinstein Company’s new book venture (known around here as Max Mira until a more official name comes along), starting April 11. In both jobs, he’ll report to Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Miramax Books itself remains part […]
Lunch for Tuesday, April 5
Pulitzers As you have likely seen elsewhere already: Fiction Marilynne Robinson, GILEAD [Finalists: “War Trash” by Ha Jin and “An Unfinished Season” by Ward Just] Nonfiction Steve Coll, GHOST WARS: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 [Finalists: Suketu Mehta, “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” and Luis Alberto Urrea, “The Devil’s Highway: A True Story”] Biography Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, DE KOONING: An American Master [Finalists: “Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare” by Stephen Greenblatt, and “Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the […]