Winning Mutant Lecturer at London’s Imperial College Armand Marie Leroi won the Guardian First Book Award for MUTANTS: On the form, varieties and errors of the human body, prevailing over such books as Susanna Clarke’s JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL. Guardian literary editor and head of the judging panel Claire Armitstead said, “It is not just about the science of abnormality, but about everything that could possibly be affected by that science, from the lifespan of fruit flies to the depiction of nostrils in the paintings of Toulouse Lautrec.” As for Clarke’s book, Armitstead commented, “while everyone was impressed by […]

Sales Rise at Wiley Second quarter sales rose 8 percent, to $247 million at Wiley, driven by “continued strength in our global scientific, technical and medical business” and “improved return rates in higher education and professional/trade” in the U.S. Professional/trade revenue was up 3 percent for the quarter. Release Da Vinci Date Columbia Pictures has confirmed that Tom Hanks is set to star as Robert Langdon in the film version of THE DA VINCI CODE. The studio has set May 19, 2006 as the worldwide release date for the film. Press release Personnel News Penny Holroyde has joined the Caroline […]

Retailing News Galore 1. 29-year-old Sarah McNally is opening a New York City branch of her family’s Canadian-based McNally Robinson bookstores on Prince Street. She was as an editor at Perseus (and husband Chris Jackson is an editor at Crown). McNally tells the NYT, “When I’ve told people, they respond as if I’m doing the most insane thing in the world. Even my accountant tried to talk me out of it.” In Canada, the four-store McNally Robinson has been named Bookseller of the Year four times by the booksellers association. NYT CBC from last week 2. At San Francisco’s Adobe […]

Gordimer Collects Charity Book Nadine Gordimer’s efforts to assemble an anthology of stories from well-known writers to benefit South African AIDS victims draw press from all over. TELLING TALES comprises 21 stories from the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Woody Allen, and Arthur Miller-all previously published, however. The collection will be published in 11 languages on December 1, World AIDS Day. Gordimer’s charge to contributors was to offer “beautiful stories celebrating life, which is what people suffering with HIV and AIDS are deprived of – the fullness of life.” BBC story Profiling Regan Lloyd Grove provides […]

Schedule Note As you will see, things are already pretty quiet, and from the cavalcade of auto-replies, a lot of people seem to think that this is a week-long holiday. There will be no Lunch served by e-mail tomorrow, but we’ll note any stories of interest at the PublishersMarketplace.com home. As usual, deals and all other site functions will continue to work. Personnel News The Penguin Group is promoting director of hardcover and juvenile operations Nancy Perlman to director of intergroup business development and corporate projects, starting January 1, reporting to Barbara O’Shea, president of non-trade sales and new business […]

Blackwell’s May Sell Stores After All The Blackwell’s retail saga continues; the parent company indicated that they will decide by early next year what to do about third-party interest in acquiring some or all of their 61 bookstores. AP story Fair Highlights Miami Herald book editor Connie Ogle looks back at a “memorable” Miami Book Fair. Fans clamored to get into a Maureen Dowd and Graydon Carter appearance, but Ogle ranks Dowd as the “most disappointing speaker.” She “barely looked up from her notes.” Miami Herald Nanny News, with Real Style If you actually thought the NYT was a newspaper, […]