We scoffed, but UK publisher John Blake is postponing publication of ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE until August 11 so that Salman Rushdie can read the book. Founder John Blake tells the Bookseller, “We are hoping when he reads it, and sees that it’s fair, he will withdraw his objections. When he reads the whole thing, I’m sure he’ll feel it’s a great book . . . he’ll probably have a chuckle.” We’ll take that bet.Bookseller
Report Cites Rough Patches in Scholarly Presses' Transition to Online Access – Chronicle.com
The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at the just-published 2007 report of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, calling the essay on Scholarly Press Initiatives by Donald J. Waters and Joseph S. Meisel “a page turner.” The authors “confirm what many observers have already concluded: The transition to e-books has not been as smooth and as rapid as Mellon (and many others) thought it would be. In the late 1990s, the foundation decided ‘that books would quickly follow journals into online distribution and access,’ so it put money behind two e-monograph projects, Gutenberg-e and History E-Books. The results were, to say […]
'Breaking Dawn' Breaking Records
Hachette Book Group estimates that they sold 1.3 million copies of Stephenie Meyer’s BREAKING DAWN on Saturday. The company added a 500,000-copy reprint prior to publication, for 3.7 million copies in print. Borders announced that its stores and web site sold over 250,000 copies on opening day–“nearly 10 times what the retailer’s first-day sales were for Eclipse, the third book in the series.”Borders release
This Week's Hot Titles?
The WSJ highlights three prominent releases this week–Andrew Davidson’s THE GARGOYLE; David Carr’s THE NIGHT OF THE GUN; and Ron Suskind’s THE WAY OF THE WORLD: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism (the biggest of the three by far, with an announced 500,000-copy first printing)–as a potential counterpoint to “the slumping book business.” Not a lot of statistical evidence there, but Gayle Shanks at Changing Hands in Tempe, Ariz., s”ays that sales of hardcover fiction at her 13,000-square-foot store are off sharply; she’s now offering a 20 percent discount on all fiction hardcover titles.”WSJ
Alexander Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89
His son Stepan Solzhenitsyn told the AP that the Nobel-winning author died late Sunday, “but declined further comment.”AP
Lunch Weekly for Monday, August 4
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form 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 Ellen Horan’s 31 BOND STREET, interweaving fiction with actual events surrounding […]