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John F. Baker -- 1/3/00
'P' Is for Putnam: Grafton Switches
Sue Grafton, for many years Holt's biggest bestseller with her Kinsey Millhone alphabetical mysteries, has followed her long-time editor, Marian Wood, to Putnam. There is already a deal in place, by way of Grafton's agent, Molly Friedrich at Aaron Priest, for the next three books in the series, beginning with "P," which is scheduled to appear in 2001. Her 15th book in the series, "O" Is for Outlaw, was published last fall and was, as usual, a number-one bestseller. It is expected that the future books will also become Berkley paperbacks. No sum for the deal was disclosed, but for a writer of Grafton's consistently strong performance, it could be reliably assumed to be an eight-figure one. Wood, who took her imprint, Marian Wood Books, to Putnam at president Phyllis Grann's invitation last spring, has been Grafton's editor ever since the start of her long-running series, with "A" Is for Alibi, in 1981. Wood said she was delighted that Grafton is coming with her. "It's been a joy to see each new novel coming in as fresh and original as Sue's first. I feel very lucky to have worked with her over all these years." As for Grafton, she told PW: "I'm very excited to be going to Putnam and to be reunited with Marian, though I did agonize over the decision because Holt has been so good to me, and it was regrettable I couldn't finish out the series there. But Marian is one of those old-fashioned editors who knows the difference between 'that' and 'which,' and knows where the commas go. She can return a manuscript completely edited in four days, and I feel I really need her counsel and protection. I hope when we're both in our dotage she'll still edit me." As for Grann, "I have personally been a fan of Sue's from the start."
Permissions Fight Kills Collins Collection
What might have been a story of a record deal for a living p t -- a six-figure one for three books -- has turned into something much sadder, as Billy Collins's previous publisher, the University of Pittsburgh Press, made such demands for permissions to use his p ms in a Random House collection planned for next spring that the project has been abandoned, at least for now. For Random editor Dan Menaker, who felt that publishing a "New and Collected" volume was the obvious next step in Collins's career right now, it's been "very disappointing. Pittsburgh's demands for permissions were so astronomical they've just thrown a tree across the road. I'm still hoping we can do a collection eventually, but it's on hold for now." Random had already prepared galleys and the book was listed on Amazon, when it became apparent that the two sides were at an impasse. Collins's agent, Chris Calhoun at Sterling Lord, who had made the deal with Random, said that Random has "sweetened the pot" in various ways, like mentioning the previous works in ad copy, and having Collins talk about them in a planned tour. But for Pittsburgh director Cynthia Miller, none of this was sufficient. At issue are three volumes her press published, Picnic, Lightning, The Art of Drowning and Questions About Angels, all strong sellers for the press (Picnic has sold nearly 25,000 copies). The planned Random volume would have contained about half the p ms in these volumes, which, she said, are significant money earners for the press. "A normal permissions fee wouldn't come close to covering what we would lose. So what I quoted was high enough to cover lost sales, and then we doubled that. It was an amazing amount of money, and I didn't expect they would pay it." Miller told PW she was convinced a Random collection would hurt UP's ongoing sales; she would have preferred the collection to be postponed until after Pittsburgh's volumes had run their sales course, and for Random to have published a volume of new work first. She would like, she added, for Random to consider a licensing agreement, or perhaps some kind of copublishing deal, but "they don't seem interested at all." She said she had talked to Collins, and explained that Pittsburgh was interested in the welfare of his existing books. "Of course, a collection is something everyone would want to do. But not now," she said. As for a further irony, Calhoun noted that Collins received no advances from Pittsburgh, and had waived royalties. Efforts to bring the sides closer had been fruitless, though "I've been ringing the dinner bell for two months; now the soup is getting cold."
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