Commission Delays (And Effectively Ends) HMV Takeover of Ottakar’s A groundswell of opposition to the proposed takeover of UK bookselling chain Ottakar’s by larger competitor HMV (which own’s Waterstone’s) has been significantly delayed if not quashed outright. After extended deliberations, the UK’s OFT has referred the merger to the Competition Commission for review — and a decision won’t be rendered until late May. As a result, the current takeover offer automatically lapses — which led to a plunge in Ottakar’s stock in London markets, knocking the price down 17 percent by mid-afternoon in London. OFT chief executive John Fingleton said: […]

Good to Self-Publish Author of long-running business bestseller GOOD TO GREAT Jim Collins has self-published a 35-page supplement, GOOD TO GREAT AND THE SOCIAL SECTORS. Listed at $11.95 and published last month, the monograph is sold through online booksellers (with the help of a really poor resolution cover.) Newsweek says “he self-published the new booklet partly so no one would confuse it with his next real book.” They add, “In the new booklet, Collins explains how nonprofits can adapt his principles. Drawing on examples such as the Girl Scouts and the Cleveland Orchestra, he explains tactics to cajole rather than […]

Monday, November 28 FICTION Debut LA ICM talent agent Margaret Marr’s HOLLYWOOD GIRLS CLUB, the story of the intertwined adventures of four women in the stiletto-wearing, black-card carrying upper echelons of the entertainment industry, “Entourage for women meets Candace Bushnell,” to Shana Drehs at Crown, in a significant deal, for two books, by Andrea Barzvi at ICM (NA). University of Virginia Poe/Faulkner fellow and NYT journalist Taylor Antrim’s THE HEADMASTER RITUAL, focusing on the political machinations inside a prestigious prep school as experienced by a first-year history teacher, to Webster Younce at Houghton Mifflin, in a pre-empt, by Joe Veltre […]

Looking to January The new Book Sense picks and notables have been posted. The top selections: 1. THE COLONY: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai, by John Tayman GENTLEMEN & PLAYERS: A Novel, by Joanne Harris THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES: A Novel, by Paul Auster THE THINKER’S THESAURUS: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words, by Peter E. Meltzer ARTHUR & GEORGE: A Novel, by Julian Barnes THE WORLD TO COME: A Novel, by Dara Horn THE LIFE ALL AROUND ME BY ELLEN FOSTER, by Kaye Gibbons BLINDFOLD GAME: A Thriller, by Dana Stabenow A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, […]

More Lists The NYT has posted their Top Ten books of the year early on the web: Fiction Haruki Murakami, KAFKA ON THE SHORE Zadie Smith, ON BEAUTY Curtis Sittenfeld, PREP Ian McEwan, SATURDAY Mary Gaitskill, VERONICA Nonfiction George Packer, THE ASSASSINS’ GATE: America in Iraq Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, DE KOONING: An American Master Jonathan Harr, THE LOST PAINTING Tony Judt, POSTWAR: A History of Europe Since 1945 Joan Didion, THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING NYT Meanwhile, USA Today recommends books for gift-giving in six categories: Gift books, plane reads, picture books, hidden gems, coffee talk, old faves, […]

Distribution News Treasure Trove, the company created to publish the bestselling A Treasure’s Trove books, has made a distribution agreement with Simon & Schuster for their future titles, which include a sequel treasure hunt book, SECRETS OF THE ALCHEMIST DAR, presenting clues to finding 100 hidden rings worth over $2.5 million overall. S&S will distribute the books as part of their Simon Scribbles line. Treasure Trove founder Michael Stadther was represented by agent Bob DiForio in negotiations for the agreement. In other distribution news, the largest Spanish language trade publisher Planeta has signed with Perseus’s CDS for distribution as of […]