INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Random House US pulls Islam book
Philip Jones
Random House US is standing
behind its decision to pull out of
publication of Sherry Jones’ Islaminspired
romantic novel, The Jewel of
Medina, despite growing controversy
about the move.
The news, which broke in the US
last week, has led to widespread
criticism and drawn comparisons
with The Satanic Verses and the Danish
Mohammed cartoons row.
But Stuart Applebaum, Random
House US spokesman, told The Bookseller
that the publisher had “no second
thoughts”.
“It was a difficult decision: one that
we have seldom had to take before
and one that we hope not to have to
take again,” he said.
Applebaum said the decision had
been taken by Gina Centrello, president
and publisher of the Random
House Publishing Group in the US,
after several “credible and unrelated
sources” warned that it might be
Yohan leaves Japan in the cold
Catherine Neilan
The bankruptcy of Japanese distributor
Yohan has left UK and US publishers
out of pocket and without a
route back into the country.
Yohan, which filed for bankruptcy
at the Tokyo District Court earlier
this month, had been the only “significant”
distributor of trade books into
the country, following its acquisition
of competitor Tuttle in 2003.
Chris Ashdown, from international
sales agency Publishers International
Marketing (PIM), said Yohan’s
demise could see the high street
English books market shrink. “We
have a rep out there . . . and his feeling
is that a lot of stores would simply
reduce their English book section as
a result,” said Ashdown.
According to Publishers Association
data supplied by HM Revenue
& Customs, Japan is UK publishers’
11th-largest export market, accounting
for export sales of £42.8m in
2007. This was down 10% on the
previous year and a further decline
from the £44.4m worth of books supplied
in 2003.
Sylvia May, international sales
director at HarperCollins, said: “It’s
a worry. Business in Japan has been
dropping off for a while.
“We are hoping other distributors
to step up, but it certainly won’t be
quick and easy,” she added.
May said there were a number
of smaller distributors—notably a
company called Miyoshi—which UK
publishers were encouraging to take
on Yohan’s former role.
Ashdown said PIM had already
been approached by a number
of smaller distributors looking to
take over from Yohan, but said it
would take time for suitable firms to
emerge. “None of this is good news
for publishers or the book trade in
Japan,” he said.
He also claimed that a number
of UK publishers were still owed
money, in some cases “six-figure
sums”, by Yohan. However, some
publishers spoken to by The Bookseller
said they had stopped supplying
the firm as early as January because
of its failure to pay invoices.
In an email sent to a UK publisher
at the start of July, seen by The Bookseller,
a representative of Yohan said
bringing logistics operations back inhouse
to reduce overheads had “led
to [a] short-term increase in cost[s],
which was unanticipated, and to be
honest has put a strain on our cash
flow, which I regret has caused
delays in our payments”.
The email added that Yohan was
“starting to see positive results from
the move and [was] working to sort
out the payables situation”.
offensive to some in the Muslim community
and could incite acts of violence
by a small, radical segment.
The source of this concern was
widely reported to have been US academic
Denise Spellberg, an associate
professor of Islamic history at the
University of Texas in Austin, who
had been sent a proof by the US publisher
to solicit a cover quote.
Spellberg, who described the book
as a “very ugly, stupid piece of work”,
has denied that she was the sole voice
objecting to the book’s publication.
Applebaum declined to go into
detail about who else raised concerns
about the book’s content.
However, the explanation has failed
to quiet criticism. Andrew Franklin,
publisher at UK-based Profile Books,
was damning about the decision.
“It’s absolutely shocking. They are
such cowards,” he told the Guardian.
When asked about his comments,
Franklin told The Bookseller: “I just
think publishers should uphold the
principle of free speech. Editorial
16 The Bookseller | 15 August 2008 www.thebookseller.com
judgement is very important, but
free speech is sacred—without it, we
should give up and go home.”
In a separate statement, Random
House US said: “We stand firmly by
our responsibility to support our
authors and the free discussion of
ideas, even those that may be construed
as offensive by some. However,
a publisher must weigh that
responsibility against others that it
also bears, and in this instance we
decided, after much deliberation, to
postpone publication for the safety
of the author, employees of Random
House, booksellers and anyone else
who would be involved in [the] distribution
and sale of the novel.”
The book, which was due to be
published this week by RH’s Ballantine
imprint, was cancelled in May.
Jones, who has just completed a
sequel to the novel, is now free to sell
her book to other publishers. The
novel did not have a UK publisher.
thebookseller.com/international
Bloomsbury US promotes
Gibson to publishing chief
Former Bloomsbury US chief Karen Rinaldi has poached
Bloomsbury US non-fiction publisher Colin Dickerman
to join her at Rodale. In response, Bloomsbury has promoted
George Gibson, the long-standing publisher of
Bloomsbury’s Walker & Company division, to publishing
director of all of Bloomsbury US.
Richard Charkin, president of Bloomsbury US, said:
“George has the experience and publishing skill to build
further our author roster and our market position in the
US and throughout the world.”
Rinaldi said the appointment would enable Rodale to
focus on its core areas of health, cooking and lifestyle,
while at the same time producing different types of books
in those categories.
New York-based writer
Ceridwen Dovey has
picked up two South
African literary awards
in the same weekend.
Dovey, who grew up in
South Africa and Australia,
won the 2008 Sunday
Times Fiction Prize and
the 2007 University of
Johannesburg Prize for
Creative Writing for her
début novel, Blood Kin
(Penguin South Africa).
The Sunday Times judges
described Blood Kin as
“brilliantly conceived
and stylistically
impeccable”. The book
is published in the UK by
Atlantic Books.
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