Buy Classics in Bulk, Save on Shipping The WSJ discovered this bargain on the recently-packaged Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection. The 40 percent discount off of the list price of $13,318 is pretty hefty, but even better is Amazon’s shipping price: “a beyond-reasonable $3.99.” Gift wrap for the 1,082-book collection is not available. Penguin’s associate director of online marketing and sales Tim McCall indicates the offering “could be followed by smaller, specialized bundles of classics — Russian literature, Greek literature and so forth.” WSJ (free story) Personnel At the Random House Publishing Group, svp and associate publisher Libby McGuire has […]

Perlman to Leave CDS; Perseus Adds Reps — and More As Perseus integrates recently purchased distributor Client Distribution Services (CDS), a reorganization has been announced. CDS president and co-founder Gilbert Perlman “has decided to leave the company,” but will consult over “the next several months.” COO Steve Black will run what’s being called the client serivce business (e.g. distribution for other publishers). The sales force — which will rep titles for Perseus’s imprints as well as CDS clients — is being expanded “substantially” and “significant investments in systems will give clients access to far more detailed and timely sales and […]

People and More Former managing director of the William Morris Agency’s UK office Stephanie Cabot will join The Gernert Company next week. Germany’s Borsenverein has chosen Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk as the winner of their peace prize, worth 25,000 Euros, to be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In a separate announcement, FBF says that their Agents and Scouts center is fully booked for this fall’s fair and a waiting list has been created. At the moment, registered British agencies outnumber US agencies, 59 to 53. Viacom Denies (One) Sale Story Current Viacom co-president and head of what will be […]

Harper Adds Schneider Kathy Schneider is following Jonathan Burnham from Miramax to Harper, where she will be associate publisher of the Harper imprint. Schneider has been publisher of Miramax Books. HarperMorrow publisher Michael Morrison says in a release, “I personally experienced her incredible marketing savvy when we worked together at Random House, and Jonathan credits her with much of Miramax’s success. Kathy’s smarts, work ethic and humor will allow her to hit the ground running in this role.” Yesterday’s edition mistakenly turned Alexandra Cooper — promoted to associate editor at Simon & Schuster Children’s — into Alexander Cooper. Evanovich Inc. […]

Does the Truth About Hillary Book Stand Up to the Press? After the fan-flaming pre-publication press from both sides of the spectrum regarding Ed Klein’s THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY, at least two reports based on the book itself are discernibly cooler. Today’s Washington Post remarks: “The 305-page book relies so heavily on previously reported information about Clinton — sometimes the author repeats rumors and then footnotes them to a prior author who referenced the rumors — that new, corroborated news seems slight. One of Klein’s major contentions is that Hillary Clinton knew about Monica Lewinsky’s relationship with her husband more […]

Franken Airs Complaints About His Publisher’s Sentinel Last week on his Air America radio show Al Franken criticized Sentinel for their forthcoming Ed Klein book THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY and discussed his larger misgivings with Penguin — which publishes Franken’s own books through Dutton. Franken points to parent company Pearson’s stated ethos: “Our values: In everything we do, we aspire to be brave, imaginative and decent,” and he comments, “This is not a decent book.” For his own books, Franken says, “Dutton holds us to a very high standard.” But, he maintains, “It appears that their right-wing imprint doesn’t have […]