Bad, Vanguard, Bad!
I received word today that John Grogan will be at a book signing just a few minutes away from my home in West Chester, PA, to promote his new book, Marley, A Dog Like No Other. My guess is that he won’t be stopping by his old offices at the Philadelphia Inquirer to say hello.
The Inquirer has struck a deal with Vanguard Press, to release a series of articles penned by Grogan as a book entitled Bad Dogs Have More Fun. Sounds great, right? Well, not exactly. Grogan wasn’t involved with the deal and he didn’t receive any advanced notice about the book. He reportedly had no involvement in the selection of the pieces or editing and, as a result, refuses to have any involvement in the promotion of the book.
As such, Grogan’s agent, Laurie Abkemeier of DeFiore and Company, today sent a letter to sales reps at Grogan’s current publisher, HarperCollins, expressing Grogan’s displeasure and explaining he will not be promoting or supporting the title in any way.
However, the new owner of the Inquirer, Brian Tierney, dismisses claims that leaving Grogan out of the process was purposeful and still hopes to have Grogan’s participation. In fact, he has even offered Grogan compensation in exchange for promoting the book. That makes sense, as clearly the book will have more success with Grogan’s stamp of approval.
However, Tierney, who, along with other investors including Bruce Toll of Toll Brothers, purchased the Inquirer last year for $562 million, doesn’t seem worried. He has stated, “[w]hile we’re excited about this book, it’s not as if it’s going to be a significant revenue stream.” And Tierney seems to know revenue. He is currently contemplating the purchase of Dow Jones & Company, which owns the Wall Street Journal.
Brian Tierney, Bruce Toll, Philadelphia Inquirer, Vanguard Press, Marley, John Grogan, HarperCollins
June 11th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Not the first case of an old publisher capitalizing on a successful author’s name, bt I hope it is a mainstream FU from Grogan, just to make a point.
June 14th, 2007 at 9:20 am
[...] Out Boy June 14th, 2007 by Kelly As a follow-up to my post about the Philadelphia Inquirer’s plans to publish a collection of John Grogan’s ar…, I contact Grogan’s agent, Laurie Abkemeier of DeFiore and Company. Ms. Abkemier referred me [...]