TODAY'S NEWS

Harcourt Sale to HM Riverdeep Cleared
The U.S. Justice Department has given its approval to the sale of Reed Elsevier's Harcourt U.S. education business to HM Riverdeep, the corporate parent of Houghton Mifflin. The DOJ put no conditions on the sale, such as the sale of some assets, as some industry observers had thought. The deal, first announced this summer, includes Harcourt's elementary school publishing businesses as well as Harcourt Trade. Read on »

Ditlow to Leave Random House
By Shannon Maughan
Tim Ditlow, who was appointed v-p, publisher at large for the Random House Audio Group in May, is leaving the company. Effective January 1, he will serve as an outside advisor to Random House Audio, though details have not been finalized. Ditlow has said that the shift will allow him more time with his new son and family. Read on »

Crown Wins Beschloss Auction
By Matthew Thornton
Sean Desmond at Crown won an auction for a new book by acclaimed historian Michael Beschloss via Esther Newberg at ICM, who sold world rights. Currently untitled, this will be a major history of wartime U. S. presidential leadership through two centuries, and publication is tentatively scheduled for 2012. Read on »

Lerner to Package Time Inc. Library Editions
Lerner Publishing Group has signed with Time Inc. Home Entertainment to package a series of school library titles. Three new titles, geared to middle and high school students, will be avilable in Spring 2008 with more planned for future seasons. With content generated by editors at Time Inc. magazines, the initial titles will pull from Life and Time, respectively. The first three titles, manufactured to be durable for school use, will be: Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History: 50 Fascinating Case Files--In Pictures; TIME: Global Warming; and TIME: Annual 2008.

The PW Morning Report: A daily round-up of the latest publishing news
By Dermot McEvoy
Times Ten Best Books; Imus' Revenge?; Nobel Sans Lessing; Rowling: Online Sequels OK; and Heil Bukowski? Read on »

Blogs

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Otto Preminger, Unwrapped; The Beatles, Too; The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus
Foster Hirsch is on today's Leonard Lopate Show promoting his biography Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King (Knopf, $35), which earned a PW starred review: "Meticulously researched, ...this epic biography offers a multifaceted portrait of the Viennese-born filmmaker and reappraisal of his films. This is a long-overdue critical biography of the temperamental titan with a genius for self-promotion." Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Abbeville Turns 30
Abbeville Press held a recent event at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York celebrating the house's 30th anniversary. Publisher Robert Abrams hosted the event and is pictured here (center), surrounded by guests and members of the industry.

JOB OF THE DAY

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