Riverhead
Why Did Little Graywolf Give Up the Paperback Rights to Their National Book Award Finalist?
Two weeks after their homegrown debut author Salvatore Scibona was nominated for the National Book Award in fiction, Minnesota-based Graywolf Press, which Ben Westhoff of The Minneapolis City Pages recently praised as "one of the best" presses in America, has sold the paperback rights to his recently published novel, The End, to the Riverhead imprint of Penguin Group USA for less than $50,000.
Why did they do it? Wouldn't they have made a lot more money if they'd published the paperback edition themselves?
According to editorial director Katie Deblinski, it was not an easy decision, but it came down to the fact that Riverhead, a publisher with corporate resources and a proven track record with paperbacks, is better equipped to market the book now that its profile is so much greater than it was before the NBA nomination. read more »
Author Walter Mosley Leaves Little, Brown, Signs Three-Book Deal With Riverhead
Prolific crime novelist Walter Mosley, author of the bestselling Easy Rawlins mystery series, has left his longtime publisher, Little, Brown, and signed a three-book contract with Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group, it was announced today.
According to a press release, Mr. Mosley's first book for Riverhead, where he will be edited by Sean McDonald, will be a mystery novel that centers around an African-American private investigator named Leonid McGill living in present day New York. The book, scheduled for 2009, will be the first installment of Mr. Mosley's new series, the second installment of which will also be published by Riverhead.Mr. Mosley's third Riverhead book will be a "literary novel," according to the release.
Riverhead publisher Geoffrey Kloske declined to comment on the amount Mr. Mosley would receive for the three books.
UPDATE: Asked to comment on Mr. Mosley's move to Riverhead, Little, Brown publisher Mitchael Pietsch said in an e-mail, "Walter Mosley is one of America's greatest writers and I wish him success in everything he does."
UPDATE: The literary novel referenced in this morning's press release will be the second book Mr. Mosley will write for Riverhead, according to Mr. McDonald. Mr. McDonald said the tentative title for the novel is The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.
Riverhead to Publish Biography of the Man Who Moved the Dodgers to L.A.
Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group, has acquired a biography of Walter O'Malley—the man who in 1957 infamously moved the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles—written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael D'Antonio.
News of the deal comes just days after O'Malley was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. According to Riverhead publisher Geoffrey Kloske, who acquired the book in a preempt from agent David McCormick of McCormick & Williams, Mr. D'Antonio has interviewed scores of people, including O'Malley's son Peter, who owned the team through the late 1990s. Mr. Kloske said Mr. D'Antonio "has access to literally hundreds of never-before-used documents and a trove of letters, records and memorabilia totaling more than 35,0000 pieces."
The book, tentatively titled The O'Malley: The Man Who Broke Brooklyn's Heart, Won LA's Love, and Changed Baseball Forever will be published in early 2009.
Breakfast at Balthazar
Events for July 8-10, 2006
Tom Suozzi opens a campaign headquarters in Huntington before heading over to campaign at the Riverhead Blues Festival.
A charity softball game will be held between Long Island Assembly Republicans and News 12 Long Island in Hicksville.
On Sunday, Progressive Women for Bill Perkins will host a fundraiser at Wimp's Skylight Cafe at 7pm.
On Monday, Bill Clinton will travel to South Africa to begin a tour of Clinton Foundation affiliated AIDS facilities on the continent and launch a sustainable development initiative.
—Nicole BrydsonRiverhead and Kelo
Yesterday, The Real Estate pointed at a New York Daily News editorial that discussed the modern uses of eminent domain for the construction of offices and factories, rather than roads and schools, stretching the justification of “public use.”
Now, Wisconsin is looking to reinforce the rights of property owners in light of the Supreme Court’s decision this past summer in the eminent domain case of Kelo vs. City of New London. The state bill on the table prohibits the condemnation of property that isn’t blighted if the land will just be handed off to another private party. The Kelo case determined that local governments could seize private homes and businesses for other private economic development projects—perhaps ones that would be more lucrative.
Wisconsin's governor is expected to sign the bill. Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama has already enacted a similar law and Tenessee is talking too.
While others tip-toe around the term, in New York, eminent domain is used to justify proposals like Atlantic Yards and Columbia University’s expansion into Manhattanville, according to the Daily News, vis-à-vis the Empire State Development Corporation—an unelected body that isn’t really accountable to the public as much as it is to its government employers. Steve Anderson, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, told the Times Union that New York is “one of the biggest abusers" of the claim.
The Daily News writer points to City Council for an answer, while others suggest a public referendum. Perhaps Riverhead’s developers can get away without calling on eminent domain because the majority of the land is held by a single owner, but as New York continues to grow, will anyone address the Kelo question?
Inman News New York Daily News The New York Times Times Union - Riva Froymovich
What to Do Post-Rehab? Write a Memoir, Of Course
Power Punk: Sean McDonald
No Sophomore Slump for Garland: After The Beach, Another Winner
