January
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BooksBeat
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Lulu.Com Eyes C$50 Million Initial Public Offering
by Steven Fromm
The self-publisher has retained Genuity Capital Markets and CIBC World Markets as the issue’s leading underwriters, the Journal reported.
The Death of the Slush Pile Even in the Web era, getting in the door is tougher than ever
by Katherine Rosman
That was the last time Random House, the largest publisher in the U.S., remembers publishing anything found in a slush pile. Today, Random House and most of its major counterparts refuse to accept unsolicited material.
Getting plucked from the slush pile was always a long shot—in large part, editors and Hollywood development executives say, because most unsolicited material has gone unsolicited for good reason. But it did happen for some: Philip Roth, Anne Frank, Judith Guest. And so to legions of would-be novelists, journalists and screenwriters—not to mention "D-girls" and "manuscripts girls" from Hollywood to New York who held the hope that finding a gem might catapult them from entry level to expense account—the slush pile represented The Dream.
Now, slush is dead, or close to extinction. Film and television producers won't read anything not certified by an agent because producers are afraid of being accused of stealing ideas and material. Most book publishers have stopped accepting book proposals that are not submitted by agents. Magazines say they can scarcely afford the manpower to cull through the piles looking for the Next Big Thing.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. The Web was supposed to be a great democratizer of media. Anyone with a Flip and Final Cut Pro could be a filmmaker; anyone with a blog a memoirist. But rather than empowering unknown artists, the Web is often considered by talent-seeking executives to be an unnavigable morass.
It used to be that you could bang out a screenplay on your typewriter, then mail it in to a studio with a self-addressed stamped envelope and a prayer. Studios already were reluctant to read because of plagiarism concerns, but they became even more skittish in 1990 when humorist Art Buchwald sued Paramount, alleging that the studio stole an idea from him and turned it into the Eddie Murphy vehicle, "Coming to America." (Mr. Buchwald received an undisclosed settlement from Paramount.)
Today, you can't even send an e-mail to a studio. When visitors to the Universal Pictures Web site select the "contact us" option, they must agree to a waiver that frees Universal and its affiliates from liability related to accusations of plagiarism. "While we are always happy to hear from you," the Web notice says, "it is Universal's policy not to accept or consider creative materials, ideas, or suggestions other than those we specifically request. This is to avoid any misunderstandings if your ideas are similar to those we have developed independently."
When her uncle calls to tell her that her grandmother is dying, images of her own mother’s mysterious death when Beth was only six dance in her head. Her grandmother had taken her in and raised her, been her strength, provided her source of hope, happiness, and inspiration. Now Nana, too, was being pulled from Beth’s life. Rushing to her grandmother’s home on a lake set far into the Midwestern wilderness, she recognizes a hauntingly real need to delve into her life. But where to begin? Born illegitimately and abandoned by death as a child, she hasn’t a clue. And then she finds an old trunk in the attic, filled with her mother’s diaries and poetry. Will the secreted items she unveils in the dim must of the ancient room shed light on her past? Will the clues that she pursues illuminate her future? When she learns the truth about her father, she faces yet another dilemma: the man she thought was her happily married uncle is actually much more. When Beth’s estranged husband arrives on the island to confess his repentance and convince his wife to return to Chicago with him, she realizes she can never face her life of old again. Waters of the Dancing Sky is an elegantly told story filled with twists and turns, pain and tenderness, conflicts and resolution. Touched by the spirits of Native Americans long since passed from this world, emboldened by the majesty and the magic of the North Woods that surround her, Beth learns at last to live life anew...to let go of the past and embrace the future, whatever it might bring. “They scanned the horizon in silence. Suddenly, a pair of pure white gulls circled overhead several times--then landed beside them. Beth held her breath as her tears began to flow. Letting herself go, she felt waves of love and peace flowing through her like a river with no beginning, no end. The female gull stared into her eyes, mesmerizing her, as images of her mother flickered through her mind. “Time seemed to stand still--until the gulls finally soared back up into the brilliant blue sky, into the universe of life. Together at last. “’The circle of life...’ Seth whispered as he pulled Beth into his arms. “’Of love,’ she sighed, as long-forgotten images of other times, other places, began to flash seamlessly through her soul. A river of lives cycling again and again. ‘I’ve always loved you, haven’t I?’ she suddenly realized. “’Always,’ his spirit answered hers. ‘Always.’” This is a book not of Beth Calhoun and her quest for peace, love, and enlightenment. This is a book about the universality of life. It is a book about the magic of the human spirit and the often wisp-like will of the human mind. Highly recommended reading for lovers of life everywhere. Waters of the Dancing Sky by Janet Kay Paperback, $16.95 Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Tim and Tom An American Comedy in Black and White Free from UC Press
This latest offering is available from the publisher's e-book site: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ebooks/free_ebook.html.
But who, you ask, are Tim and Tom?
“I have known Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen as comedians and friends since 1975," said David Letterman, "but I never knew Tim and Tom, the comedy team. This book is four compelling stories in one compilation: One story about Tim Reid, sad, fascinating and uplifting. One story about Tom Dreesen, a man consumed by a goal and a great witness to a bygone era of show business that one can’t help but long for. A third story about seeking recognition in the world of entertainment. And finally, a story about race and culture in a country that should have been farther down the road to understanding, tolerance and human kindness than it was in the 1970s. Tim and Tom is a great story, the best kind of story, well told, about two men struggling to prove themselves. This entertaining book offers many meaningful lessons and vivid reflection.”
Amazon E-book Sales Overtake Print
Online retailer may be on target for sales of 500,000 Kindle e-readers over Christmas
As people rushed to fill their freshly unwrapped e-readers – one of the top-selling gadgets this festive season – the online retailer said sales at its electronic book store quickly overtook orders for physical books. Its own e-reader, the Kindle, is now the most popular gift in Amazon's history.
Amazon's shares rose sharply today after it updated investors on a strong Christmas performance. On its peak day, 14 December, the retailer said customers ordered more than 9.5m items worldwide, the equivalent of a record-breaking 110 items a second.
The Seattle-based company's top sellers in its home market included Apple's iPod touch, Scrabble Slam Cards, Nintendo's Wii Fit Plus with balance board, the latest Harry Potter DVD, Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue and Susan Boyle's album, I Dreamed a Dream.
Although Amazon has repeatedly trumpeted "record-breaking" Kindle sales, it has refused to say exactly how many have been sold since the 2007 launch.
Ferriolo: Woods Had a Gay Old Time
Loredana recently attempted to sell her story for $1 million in exchange for describing graphically the group sex that included incidents of Tiger with other men, according to RadarOnline.com. Ferriolo says she is planning to spill all about how she and Tiger "came about, his healthy appetite for arranged sex, threesomes, girls next door, girl-girl, and an answer to all the rumors surrounding Woods' sexuality."
The hint about Tiger's bi-sexuality is the key to the model's hopes for making a seven-figure deal, no matter how unlikely doing so seems. Ferriolo, described as a gorgeous blonde from Sicily, has told numerous persons that she was one of Woods' favorite mistresses.
One of her representatives told RadarOnline.com that she is in talks with a number of publishing companies regarding a tell-all book deal. The sex-celeb has kept a low public profile since being named one of Woods' mistresses and has been spotted most recently at an upscale Florida country club on the golf course, taking lessons.
Top Ten U.S. Book Publishers For 2009
by Michael Hyatt
Keep in mind that these lists are based on revenues for the twelve months ending December 31, 2009. We created these lists from a proprietary database we have developed at Thomas Nelson. It is derived from various point-of-sale systems from multiple sales channels.
We prepare two “top ten” lists internally. First, we track the Top U.S. Trade Publishers. (Publishers whose books are primarily sold through retail booksellers as opposed to, say, textbook publishers.) We consolidate the various imprints into their parent companies. So, for example, HarperCollins includes William Morrow and Zondervan. Simon & Schuster includes Free Press, Pocket Books, Howard Books, Scribner, etc.
Digital Pirates Hit Publishers Hard
by Steven Levingston
The study, conducted by the online monitoring and enforcement service Attributor, highlights the drain from piracy on publishers revenues and the need for more effective protections online for copy-righted material.
The report focuses on the illegal downloads of 913 popular titles in their digital format, finding that on average each titles was downloaded without payment about 10,000 times.
"This new study confirms that book piracy on the Internet has reached epidemic proportions," said Tom Allen, president and chief executive of the Association of American Publishers, in a statement. "Unchecked, that piracy will drain the creative energy of American publishing. Those 9 million pirated books should be a call-to-arms for policymakers, educators, and every reader who cares about the future of digital and printed books."
Bits & Bytes For thousands of additional listings, become an AmSAW Professional Member Today
FICTION Debut Kenneth Harmon's BETTER NOT POUT: A Tale of North Pole Noir, in which a hard-boiled elf is framed for murder in a world that plays reindeer games for keeps, to Ben Sevier at Dutton, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.
Tyler McMahon's HOW THE MISTAKES WERE MADE, about the rise and fall of a punk supergroup in Seattle in the early 1990s, narrated by its tough girl drummer, now known notoriously to fans as "the girl who broke up the band," to Hilary Rubin Teeman at St. Martin's, by Jennifer de la Fuente at Fountain Literary (World).
Peter Geye's YOU WILL COME SAFE FROM THE SEA, in which a father and son reconnect thirty-five years after the father survived the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat, to Greg Michalson at Unbridled Books, by Laura Langlie (world English).
Mystery/Crime Carole Nelson Douglas's next three Midnight Louie mysteries, the "V,W,X" books in the alphabetically titled series about a feline PI pitched as "Sam Spade with hairballs" and part-time noir narrator who discreetly aids two amateur and two professional human crime solvers in Las Vegas, to Claire Eddy at Forge, in a good deal, for publication in 2011-2013, by Howard Morhaim at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
SMART DIVORCE co-author Susan Goldstein's HOLLYWOOD FOREVER, a wealthy, spoiled Beverly Hills woman, having helped to create the series protagonist of the celebrity novelist she's in the process of divorcing, finds herself accused of her husband's murder as well as that of every person to whom she's spoken about her grievances, to Rosalind Greenberg at Tekno Books, by Jean Naggar at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (World English).
General/Other Winner of the 2009 Governor General's Award Kate Pullinger's THE MISTRESS OF NOTHING, based on the true-life story of Lady Duff Gordon and her maid in nineteenth-century Egypt, to Danielle Friedman at Touchstone Fireside, by Anne McDermid at Anne McDermid Associates.
Children's: Picture book Lindsay Ward's PELLY AND MR. HARRISON VISIT THE MOON, about a girl and her dog who fly to outer space in a rocket bathtub and make a friend, to Kira Lynn at Kane/Miller, by Mary Kole at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World).
MODERN LIFE author and Finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, Matthea Harvey's CECIL, THE PET GLACIER, to Anne Schwartz at Schwartz & Wade, by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger (world). sara@harveyklinger.com
Children's: Young Adult Amy Huntington's SLEEPWALKING, centering around an American teenager attempting to rebuild her shattered life after the death of her parents, to Tara Weikum at Harper Children's, in a pre-empt, in a major deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Summer 2011, 2012, 2013, by Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World English). Translation: labramo@dystel.com
21-year-old Hopkins grad Hannah Sternberg's QUEENS OF ALL THE EARTH, a coming-of-age book about two bickering sisters whose hearts and minds are opened on a Thanksgiving trip to Barcelona, inspired by Forester's ROOM WITH A VIEW, to Bancroft Press, for publication fall 2010. Foreign/film: bruceb@bancroftpress.com
Nate Flexer's THE DISASSEMBLED MAN, in which a psychotic slaughterhouse worker sets out to reverse his destiny through a series of bizarre murders, optioned to writer/director Ethan Goldman, by Allan Guthrie of Jenny Brown Associates. allan@jennybrownassociates.com
NONFICTION Anthology Founder of www.myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com Eliot Glazer's MY PARENTS WERE AWESOME, an anthology of humorous and endearing writings from children about their parents -- before the fanny packs and Andrea Bocelli concerts -- when they were fashion-forward and super awesome, to Ryan Doherty at Villard, by Hannah Brown Gordon at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
Biography Documentary TV producer/screenwriter for HBO, A&E, and Disney Nat Segaloff's untitled, first ever portrait of film-television-Broadway director Arthur Penn, best known for "Bonnie & Clyde," "Little Big Man," "The Miracle Worker," and directing the comedy team of Mike Nichols & Elaine May on Broadway, with the complete cooperation of its subject, utilizing Penn's personal files and invaluable show biz contacts, friends, also much insider focus on directing techniques, to Anne Dean Watkins at the University Press of Kentucky, for publication in Spring 2011, by Agnes Birnbaum at Bleecker Street Associates (world).
Business/Investing/Finance Brothers and longtime consultants Kevin Coyne and Shawn Coyne's BRAINSTEERING: The Breakthrough Approach to Developing More and Better Ideas of Any Kind, based on a large-scale research and consulting endeavor from their time at McKinsey & Company, providing readers with a systematic and efficient way of generating new ideas through a questions-based approach, brought to life through hundreds of examples from the worlds of business, entertainment and everyday life, to Hollis Heimbouch at Harper Business, by Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor (World English).
Cooking From the priest who defeated Bobby Flay on Throwdown! Father Leo Patalinghug's GRACE BEFORE MEALS: Recipes for Family Life, a one-of-a-kind cookbook combining simple but delicious recipes with short inspirational essays on faith, values, and family togetherness, to John Burke at Doubleday Religion (World).
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