Borders’ Josefowicz Has Had Enough Whether or not the private equity firms make a play for Borders, CEO since 1999 Greg Josefowicz has told the board of directors he is ready to “retire” from the company and will leave as soon as they can hire a replacement. According to the statement, Josefowicz “will assist the Board as needed through the end of fiscal 2007 to assure an orderly transition.” Josefowicz, 52, says in the announcement, “Over the next two years, working with the leadership team and the Board as appropriate, I will continue to focus on key business initiatives and […]

Perkins and Raschka Take Children’s Awards Lynne Rae Perkins’ CRISS CROSS, about “four 14-year-olds in a small town, each at their own crossroads,” was awarded the 2006 Newbery medal this morning, as illustrator Chris Raschka’s THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW won the Caldecott medal. Award committee chair Barbara Barstow says of Perkins’ book in a release: “In 38 brief chapters, this poetic, postmodern novel experiments with a variety of styles: haiku, song lyrics, question-and-answer dialogue and split-screen scenarios. With seeming yet deliberate randomness, Perkins writes an orderly, innovative, and risk-taking book in which nothing happens and everything happens.” Alan Armstrong, Susan […]

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 Florida lawyer James Sheehan’s THE MAYOR OF LEXINGTON AVENUE, originally published in paperback by Yorkville Press, featuring attorney Jack Tobin, to Marc Resnick at St. Martin’s, for publication in mass market in winter 2007, […]

Borders Awards Borders named their annual Original Voices Winners: Fiction: Nicole Krauss, THE HISTORY OF LOVE Nonfiction: Emma Larkin, FINDING GEORGE ORWELL IN BURMA Picture book: Rob Scotton, RUSSELL THE SHEEP YA: Gabrielle Zevin, ELSEWHERE Press release The Imploding UK Book Business: Two Views In the Independent, Boyd Tonkin declares: “British chain bookselling – with Waterstone’s as its battered figurehead – now looks suspiciously like a murder victim who has decided to speed up his demise by committing suicide.” Plus: “n this climate, for publishers and writers to worry unduly about whether the Competition Commission allows wounded Waterstone’s to buy […]

Glusman to Harmony; Rhodes to Take Over at Watson-Guptill After his departure as editor-in-chief of Farrar, Straus at the end of last year, John Glusman is joining Harmony next week as executive editor, reporting to publisher Shaye Areheart. And former Rodale trade books publisher Amy Rhodes will take over as publisher and general manager at VNU’s Watson-Guptill at the end of this month. Todd Hittle at VNU Business Media comments, “We have been looking to energize the Watson-Guptill publishing program, and Amy brings the right mix of energy and ideas that we feel will make an excellent contribution to the […]

Talese Contradicts Frey’s Account of Sale Nan Talese talks to the Observer about the publication of James Frey’s A MILLION LITTLE PIECES and her essential truth is different than the author’s. She tells the Observer she “almost collapsed” after hearing Frey tell Larry King, “When Nan Talese purchased the book, I’m not sure if they knew what they were going to publish it as. We talked about what to publish it as. And they thought the best thing to do was publish it as a memoir.” Her statement: “When the manuscript of A Million Little Pieces was received by us […]