Doubleday - GalleyCat

Doubleday Seeks Talented Marketing Manager

Nadine Cheung — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:47:27 +0000

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group is hiring! The company is currently looking for a new marketing manager to focus on the Doubleday imprint.

Here, you’ll create, implement and manage creative campaigns that market titles internally, to the trade and to consumers. You’ll work closely with sales team on account-specific programs, which may include content development, creation of flyers, brochures and special mailings. You’ll develop relationships with on and offline partners, and contribute to e-newsletters and social media. continued…

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Phyllis Grann To Retire from Doubleday

Maryann Yin — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:00:33 +0000

Editor Phyllis Grann will retire from her position at Doubleday. In a letter written by editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta, he praised Grann “as a brilliant editor and savvy businesswoman.”

Grann has worked in publishing for four decades. Prior to Doubleday, she held editorial positions at William Morrow, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Group (USA). She has worked with several celebrated authors including Tom Clancy, Judy Blume, and Patricia Cornwell.

Grann explained: “Doubleday has allowed me to continue doing what I love. And as much as I have enjoyed the work, I now feel it is time to step back.” Following her last day on June 9th, she will be available as a consultant and freelance editor.

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It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

Ron Hogan — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:17:59 +0000

Doubleday recently posted the cover art for the new J. California Cooper novel, Life Is Short But Wide, and it seems the design team pulled up the same photo from the Getty Images archives that HarperCollins used three years ago for Jeffrey Ford‘s Edgar-winning The Girl in the Glass. If you look closely, you can spot the three main differences: When Georgia Liebman designed the cover to The Girl in the Glass back in ’05, she added, well, a girl in the glass, along with a blue butterfly—and, as far as my untrained eye can see, those two pairs of shoes in the Doubleday cover appear to have been put in by that illustration’s designer. (But I could be wrong—UPDATE: And no less an authority than Jeffrey Ford writes in to correct me: “I believe the boots were actually original to the photo, because Harper Collins originally showed it to me with the boots, and I asked them to remove them as there are no boots in the story.”)

The original photograph was taken by the late Debra McClinton, who committed suicide last year by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. This weekend, San Francisco’s Gallery 291 showed a memorial exhibition.

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Scott Moyers Won’t Be A Junior Jackal

Sarah — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:01:14 +0000

The Observer’s Leon Nayfakh catches up with former book editor Scott Moyers, now comfortably ensconced within the Wylie Agency as a literary agent. In the last month alone, Moyers has sold books to Doubleday, Scribner, Random House and the Penguin Press. Not a bad opening month, Neyfakh comments, though having worked as an editor at all four of those houses may have come in handy – as does working with the man famously known for poaching clients that his nickname, “The Jackal,” pretty much says it all.

Many of Moyers’ colleagues in the industry say they’re pleased for him about his new gig. But a few fear that between the personal loyalty that Moyers commands from many of the writers he’s edited, and Wylie’s formidable existing stable of talent (Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie and Martin Amis are but a few of the 600-plus author on the overall client list) and no-holds-barred recruiting tactics, the pair could create a juggernaut with the ability to raid the rosters of smaller competitors. Or, as one competitor puts it: “The question for Scott is, if you swim with the sharks, are you going to become one of the sharks?”

Not surprisingly, Moyers disagrees with any such notions. “I am not making it my business to think in those terms or be predatory,” he told Neyfakh. “There is so much good work to do. I think, like all agents, if something happens organically-if one is approached, if something makes sense, then so be it. I’m not going to be morbidly squeamish in a kind of way that doesn’t make sense. But I am going to be straightforward and open.” And he’s generally amused by any speculation about potential poaching and shark-swimming. “I thank them for their concern, for their solicitude. I’m moved by their empathy,” he said. “I ask them to give me a soul X-ray a year from now, and if I have black spots on the lungs of my soul, then, you know, they can just rush me to the infirmary and fill me up with drugs. But I somehow think it’s going to be okay.”

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Pelosi to Pen Memoir for Doubleday

Sarah — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:37:27 +0000

PW Daily reports that Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has signed with Doubleday to publishe her memoir. The deal for North American rights was made by Doubleday president and publisher Stephen Rubin, who acquired the untitled work from a trio of the William Morris Agency‘s top executives: chairman Norman Brokaw; vp and co-head of the agency, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh; and senior vp and president Mel Berger.

The memoir will be published in the summer of 2008 and Pelosiâ€™s collaborator is yet to be determined. It will focus on the Speakerâ€™s remarkable life both personally and professionally. “When Nancy Pelosi, surrounded by her six grandchildren, took the gavel as the first female Speaker of the House in January 2007, it was an historic moment in our nation’s history,” Rubin said. “She stood there as wife, mother, grandmother and political leader; her ascension and remarkable career have put the lie to the notion that those roles are in any way in conflict. How she managed to serve her country without compromising her family is a story both fascinating and inspirational, and Doubleday is proud to be publishing it.”

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Faulks Confirmed as Author of Centenary Bond Novel

Sarah — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:24:24 +0000

Score one for MI6, who correctly predicted that Sebastian Faulks, most recently the author of ENGELBY, is the newest author aboard the James Bondenterprise. DEVIL MAY CARE is scheduled to be published on May 28, 2008 – just in time for the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming‘s birth – by Penguin in the UK and Doubleday in the US. Doubleday president and publisher Steve Rubin bought US rights from Gillon Aitken with Deb Futter to edit.

“Three pages into DEVIL MAY CARE and you are immediately thrown back into the world of James Bond and all those wonderful characters we have come to love,” Rubin said in the announcement, reprinted on Doubleday Broadway’s official blog. “DEVIL MAY CARE is pure Fleming channeled by Faulks – a madcap adventure, a romantic romp and a book you can devour in one sitting. It all starts in Paris, and no one alive writes better about Paris than Sebastian Faulks.”

The book will be set in 1967, when, Faulks said yesterday, “Bond is damaged, ageing and in a sense it is the return of the gunfighter for one last heroic mission”. His own interpretation of the spy, he hinted, would show all the caddishness of Bond’s previous incarnations, tempered with just a shade of new-mannish sensitivity. He has been widowed and been through a lot of bad things … He is slightly more vulnerable than any previous Bond but at the same time he is both gallant and highly sexed, if you can be both. Although he is a great seducer, he really does appreciate the girls he seduces and he doesn’t actually use them badly.”

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Are Serials Good for Your Publishing Health?

Sarah — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:03:01 +0000

The New York Times’ Joanne Kaufman wonders if first serial rights – once so coveted by magazines that they were willing to pay six figures for the privilege of publishing exclusive excerpts from a highly anticipated book – have lost their luster. After all, when many such excerpts give away the juiciest bits of the book, why bother spending $25 for the rest, which may or may not live up to expectations?

Kaufman explains that magazine editors who five years ago would have reflexively bid for first serial rights to certain high-profile books are now exploring their options, choosing instead to run a feature about the book or an interview with the author. Some magazines – Time and Harper’s in particular – have turned to asking authors to write an article or essay that touches on issues raised in their book. “I think the whole model needs to be rethought,” said Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time. “I’m less interested in buying headlines than a great reader experience.” PW’s Sara Nelson finds the disinterest extends to publishers. “I see more and more of them interested in the TV interview for their author rather than the book excerpt because TV has a greater reach than magazines.”

But even if excerpts may contribute to book sale decreases and magazines themselves aren’t what they used to be, not all share the doom and gloom. Alison Rich, the director of publicity at Doubleday, said she had no such concerns with regards to Tina Brown‘s just-published THE DIANA CHRONICLES – excerpted first in Vanity Fair. “Tina’s writing is extraordinary,” Rich said. “The book is an incredibly rich textured portrait of Diana and all the royals, and it’s our belief that readers will be anxious for more.”

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Grisham’s Latest Bestseller Slated for September

Sarah — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:57:17 +0000

The AP reported yesterday that John Grisham‘s next novel is slated for a September publication from Doubleday – and is a departure from his usual courtroom setting. PLAYING FOR PIZZA is the story of an American quarterback trying his luck in Italy. “I was pleasantly surprised to find real American football in Italy,” Grisham said in a statement issued by Doubleday, “and as I dug deeper, a novel came together. The research was tough – food, wine, opera, football, Italian culture – but someone had to do it.” The book following PLAYING FOR PIZZA, out in Spring 2008, will see Grisham back in the courtroom.

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Bookspan Bloodbath

Sarah — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:16:13 +0000

PW Daily reports that a mere six weeks after it acquired complete ownership of Bookspan, Bertelsmann has initiated a major overhaul of the book club business, a process that will eliminate 280 positions, or about 15% of its workforce of 1,900. As part of integrating Bookspan into BMG Columbia House, an unspecified number of smaller clubs will be closed, including American Compass, InsightOut Book Club and Behavioral Science Book Service, as will Madison Park Press, the publishing program launched about 18 months ago. Madison Park’s staff, including editor Christine Zika, will be let go but the fate of its publisher, Carole Baron, remained unclear as of this time. However, since Baron is also acting in an at-large capacity with Knopf (most recently acquiring the debut novel from Poppy Adams) it’s possible her duties there may increase in the wake of Bookspan’s new plans.

“A number of small, specialized clubs will either be combined with another book club or phased out by the end of 2007,” says company spokeswoman Paula Batson. “This realignment will enable the company to focus its assets and efforts on its core book club brands such as Book-of-the-Month, Doubleday, Black Expressions, Crossings and The Literary Guild as well as its music and DVD club businesses.” The clubs will be phased out over the rest of the year and members will be given the chance to transfer to a different club. Books from some clubs will also be made available through the general interest and other specialized clubs.

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Department of Obvious: No New Dan Brown Book in 2007

Sarah — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:05:05 +0000

For the two or three people who believed Dan Brown would follow up THE DA VINCI CODE with something new in 2007, the Bookseller throws ice-cold water in your face. They only speak to the UK marketplace, but one would assume the same applies over here, since Doubleday will probably have first dibs on the finished manuscript over any other foreign territory.

Transworld publisher Larry Finlay said a Da Vinci follow-up had been budgeted in for 2007 but that Brown had yet to send any material. “It is in the budget, but it was in the budget last year. There is still a chance it will be this year; we just don’t know. He’ll deliver, I am sure, but I don’t know when. It will be published when it’s published.” Which is a lovely way of saying there’s no news, there’s no news on when there will be news, and the news of their being news will be news…eventually. How Rumsfeld-ian.

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Gargoyle Rep Makes Ugly Face at Pre-emp

Ron Hogan — Fri, 11 May 2007 09:52:09 +0000

So I was catching up with the Vulture blog at New York, and I saw where Janklow & Nesbit agent Eric Simonoff had reportedly waved off a million-dollar pre-empt for The Garygole, a novel by Andrew Davidson described in the item as “a densely packed story about a car-accident victim in the burn ward befriended by a mysterious woman who claims to be a stone carver in a fifteenth-century German abbey.”

A Google search on Davidson and publishing-related matters turned up a children’s illustrator, but when I emailed Simonoff to learn more about the submission, he immediately let me know we were talking about an altogether different fellow. The debut novel was originally sold to Random House Canada last year, and Davidson has been revising diligently for the last four months based on editor Anne Collins‘s notes. “I have been raving to editors in New York and London for months about this book to the point that some of them questioned my sanity,” Simonoff added. “But it delivers on all promises… Let’s just say, it is really really really good. It is both genuinely literary and enormously commercial.” He also noted that editors who’ve seen the manuscript compare it to authors like Umberto Eco, Michael Ondatje, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and… Chuck Palahniuk?

OK, that’s got my attention, and Simonoff’s the agent who got Vikram Chandra seven figures for Sacred Games, so he presumably knows from big books; let’s just hope whoever eventually signs Davidson to what Michael Cader will undoubtedly call a “major deal” really does score a The Shadow of the Wind rather than, say, the next The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters…

UPDATE: The Vulture followed up last night with a report that Gerald Howard at Doubleday won the auction, reportedly for $1.25 million.

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S&S Launches Video Channel

Sarah — Tue, 08 May 2007 07:47:34 +0000

Simon & Schuster announced this morning that they have reached an agreement with video company TurnHere to launch a book-centric internet video channel to promote S&S authors and their new releases. The companies will produce videos with in-depth information on featured books and authors as well as sneak previews of upcoming titles. The channel, called Bookvideos.tv, will launch in early June.

“Readers have long hungered for greater contact and more information about authors,” said Sue Fleming, Vice President, Online and Consumer Marketing for the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group. “Now readers will have a way to view and share compelling content about our authors, available on a 24/7 basis. Bookvideos.tv will allow readers to easily use the internet to replicate, for the digital age, the critical and time tested word of mouth excitement that comes from talking about a good read. Working with TurnHere to tap this huge potential audience is an exciting new way of marketing for us, and we expect to find legions of new readers while at the same time giving a new experience to dedicated fans of our authors.”

The WSJ’s Jeff Trachtenberg has more on the story along with a telling observation from The Book Report’s Carol Fitzgerald: most readers don’t know which publishers actually publish their favorite authors. “They could say, ‘Why don’t you have John Grisham?’”, even though he’s published by Doubleday.

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This Summer, It’s All About Diana

Sarah — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 08:42:12 +0000

The Wall Street Journal‘s Jeff Trachtenberg looks at the plethora of books that have something, anything to do with Princess Diana – just as the 10th anniversary of her death approaches. The article focuses primary attention on Tina Brown, as the end result of a seven-figure advance for her take on the princess – THE DIANA CHRONICLES – hits stores on June 12. Doubleday is printing 200,000 copies of the book, Trachtenberg says, deemed a comprehensive biography that promises new insights regarding Diana’s pursuit of Prince Charles, her sad early years and how she used the media to her own ends. Beyond juicy details, Brown says she set out to write a book that examined the princess in a media and social context while discussing the impact of celebrity culture: “Why Diana was important, why she continues to fascinate, and what we should make of her 10 years after her death.”

But some are skeptical that Brown will find success, considering a number of books – let’s not forget Paul Burrell‘s “embargoed” account – didn’t live up to sales expectations. “It’s a gamble for us,” said Vivien Jennings, owner of Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kan. “Will there be new information and pictures people haven’t seen before? And will there be so much news coverage that people won’t have to read the book?” Jennings says she has ordered 20 copies of THE DIANA CHRONICLES because those who are interested will want to buy the book immediately. “We can’t miss a sale,” she said. the Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Ill., has ordered only two copies, based on weak sales of recent Diana-related titles. “Publicity could save [it] but there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm in the heartland,” said owner Roberta Rubin. One potential bright sign: a customer has already reserved a copy. “Somebody has gotten word, so I’ll buy a few more,” said Rubin.

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Pulitzer Prize Winners

Sarah — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:25:18 +0000

The Pulitzer Prize has announced its winners in a variety of categories, and while our Fishbowl siblings will be dissecting the journalism winners, we’ll look at the book-related winners:

FICTION: Cormac McCarthy, THE ROAD (Knopf)

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: AFTER THIS by Alice McDermott (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and THE ECHO MAKER by Richard Powers (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

HISTORY: Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, THE RACE BEAT (Knopf)

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005″ by James T. Campbell (The Penguin Press), and “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War” by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking).

BIOGRAPHY: Debby Applegate, THE MOST FAMOUS MAN IN AMERICA (Doubleday)

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty” by Arthur H. Cash (Yale University Press), and “Andrew Carnegie” by David Nasaw (The Penguin Press).

GENERAL NONFICTION: Lawrence Wright, THE LOOMING TOWER (Knopf)

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness” by Pete Earley (Putnam), and “Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq” by Thomas E. Ricks (The Penguin Press).

POETRY: Natasha Trethewey, NATIVE GUARD (Houghton Mifflin)

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “The Republic of Poetry” by Martin Espada (W.W. Norton), and “Interrogation Palace: New & Selected Poems 1982-2004″ by David Wojahn (University of Pittsburgh Press).

The upshot is that some of the smaller university presses should be proud, the big winners were Knopf, FSG and the Penguin Press – and about the only prize Cormac McCarthy hasn’t earned is beatification, but who knows, that may follow in due course…

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Dare We Call it a GalleyCast?

Sarah — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:30:03 +0000

I admit it: I’ve wanted to make that pun for ages, and thanks to Andrew Keen at AfterTV.com, I’m now able to. Almost as soon as my piece on the Google UnBound conference ran on mediabistro.com’s homepage, Keen, whose Web 2.0 polemic THE CULT OF THE AMATEUR will be published by Doubleday in June, contacted me to be his next guest on his podcast devoted to media, culture and technology. The 25 minute interview is now available for listening.

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