Britain’s surprising medal haul at the Beijing Olympics has prompted a flurry of interest in potential book projects, with agents sounding out publishers for deals for the likes of double-gold swimming champion Rebecca Adlington, medal-winning cyclist Victoria Pendleton and teenage diver Tom Daley. Giles Elliott, sports editor at Transworld, said that since Ben Ainslie’s gold medal win in sailing last Sunday, there have been agents trying to tout tie-in sports titles. “They have been going around trying to see what kind of interest there is,” he said. Tom Whiting, editorial director at Harper non-fiction, added: “There are a lot of […]
Bertelsmann Among Reed Bidders?
German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports that Gruner + Jahr, in which Bertelsmann owns a controlling stake, is among the bidders for Reed Business Information.Wire item
What Publishing Can Learn from Social Media
At Business Week, Sarah Lacy writes about a topic “near and dear” to her: how publishing can adapt and “stay everywhere” in the wake of changing social media and Web 2.0 applications: “A way to do that is to ensure that publishing learns how to exploit the full benefits of the social media tools now taking hold of the Web. Newspapers dragged their heels and look what’s happening to them. As great as the Kindle is, publishing has a long way to go.” Her five lessons for the industry include looking to Yelp, Digg and Twitter for ways to “make […]
Serbian Publisher Withdraws "Medina"
Serbian publisher BeoBook says that they have withdrawn their printing of Sherry Jones’ novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA “because of protests from local Islamic leaders who said it insulted Muhammad and his family,” the AP reports. (By other accounts, the protests were led by one a Belgrade mufti–and another mufti spoke out against the intimidation.) The company expressed “apology and regret” to Muslims as part of a statement posted on their web site. They are said to have printed approximately 1,000 copies of the book a few weeks ago. The Washington Post files a long piece on the larger controversy […]
Penguin Launches Dating Website
Penguin is launching a dating website aimed at book readers as “a place to meet and indulge in the age-old art of writing love letters”. in conjunction with online dating giant Match.com.The Bookseller
Lonely Planet Goes Mobile
Lonely Planet has made a deal with Nokia to sell maps and city guides for over 100 cities to users of Nokia Maps 2.0 users. (The maps are provided by their Navteq subsidiary.) The downloads will sell for 7.99 euros.Cnet