Random House Enters Film Business Random House has announced another big step beyond traditional publishing with the creation of long-term “creative and strategic filmmaking partnership” with Focus Features, the division of NBC Universal run by David Linde and James Schamus. Together the companies will develop, co-finance and co-produce “a substantial slate of feature films for theatrical release” based on books published by Random House, where “rights are available and can be acquired.” The films will be jointly owned by the two companies, with Focus controlling worldwide sales and distribution rights. The publisher is creating a Random House Films division, which […]

Kirshbaum Sets Up His Own Agency; Korda to Step Down As EIC The guessing game is over on where outgoing Time Warner Books Group CEO Larry Kirshbaum will hang his shingle as literary agent. Rather than join an established agency, as many expected, Kirshbaum is forming LJK Literary Management. Kirshbaum explains his decision to go on his own: “I’m new at this and wanted to start small in my own shop.” LJK’s first hire is Susanna Einstein from Maria Campbell Associates, who will be director of foreign rights. Kirshbaum says he expects to build to a staff of four or […]

Quarterly Scorecards: Penguin Up a Little (Pearson Ed Up a Lot), S&S Down Pearson is delivering the long-promised strong 2005 increases in sales at the Pearson Education unit. For the first nine months of the year, sales have risen 10 percent in the educational divisional and profits are up 20 percent. At Penguin, sales are up 2 percent so far in the fiscal year though, “with the 2005 publishing schedule weighted more towards the first half, the rate of growth has, as expected, slowed through the year.” (Additionally, fiscal 2004 was a weak year for the trade publisher, with sales […]

Less Would Have Been More Profitable With every new book in the Harry Potter series, the press frenzy of anticipation has gotten stronger and stronger, and the pre-order fuelled opening day sale has risen — even as the total sales decline from book to book. Which poses extra challenges to Scholastic: how do you properly calculate and delivery enough books to meet initial demand without getting stuck with too much inventory shortly thereafter? A report in the Independent suggests the publisher should have foregone reprints of 2.7 million copies on THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE as Scholastic chairman Dick Robinson “admits bookshops […]

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Stehlik to Take Over at Avon Liate Stehlik has been hired to serve as svp and publisher of Avon, reporting to HarperMorrow group publisher Michael Morrison, starting at the end of November. Stehlik fills a slot that has been vacant. Avon executive editor Carrie Feron, who had been reporting to Morrison, will now report to Stehlik. She has been associate publisher at Pocket Books since 2001. From the UK Da Vinci Hearing A trial date of February 27 has been set in London for the lawsuit brought by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh against Dan Brown and Random House over […]