The Open Book co-operative has signed a one-year lease to take over a former Harry Schwartz bookstore space–but a spokesman says “we’re about halfway there” in raising the money needed to actually open a store. They say they have raised about $50,000, and are hoping news of the lease encourage more supporters to come forward. The group is hoping to be able to open a store in the 10,000-square-foot space by November.
Archives for September 2009
Some Google Requests Take It on the Chin; Congress Has No Questions for Publishers
In what could be viewed as a signal that Judge Denny Chin is ready for resolution on the Google Books Settlement case, yesterday he quickly denied two motions from opponents. In both rulings, Chin emphasized the view that there has been plenty of time for investigation and expression. Judge Chin swatted away efforts by Lewis Hyde, Harry Lewis and the Open Access Trust to formally intervene for the second time (they were first turned down in April), writing: “This case was filed some four years ago and has been conditionally settled; it is simply too late to permit new parties […]
Meet the Mega MetaMess
One of the main topics of discussion at yesterday’s BISG (Book Industry Study Group) annual meeting was the impending data mess that digital books are producing. I understand that for most of our readership, terms like metadata and identifiers can lead directly to disinterest or slumber but the real-world implications are easier to relate to: When you cannot find a book properly online, or when ebook sales in certain outlets don’t “count” towards bestseller lists, or a retailer can’t get a hold of a copy of something a customer wants to buy, metadata issues take on a new urgency. To […]
Lots of People News; Quartet to Close Before Starting, as Marion Boyars Closes, Too
Erica Silverman, formerly a Senior VP at William Morris and ICM, has joined Trident Media Group as a literary agent. Adam Korn has joined DeFiore and Company as an agent after a short stint at Vigliano Associates. He had been an editor at Harper, Crown and Random House. Zoe Shacham has joined the Nancy Yost Literary Agency as director of foreign rights, and Natanya Wheeler has joined the company as an agent. Myrsini Stephanides joins the Carol Mann Agency, focusing on pop culture, music, humor, popular science, narrative nonfiction, and memoir, as well as offbeat literary, graphic, and YA fiction. […]
Trade Falls Further at Wiley, As "Stabilizing" Is Seen
Sales fell 10 percent in Wiley’s professional/trade segment in their fiscal first quarter, at $90 million (with a third of that decline due to currency exchange). But the company says “retail market conditions appear to be stabilizing, and major accounts are replenishing inventory. The second quarter began positively, as reflected in strong August sales.” Contribution to profit also declined 10 percent, at $16 million. Companywide, sales of $388 million were down three percent, while income before taxes of $37.1 million was up three percent. Higher education was the only segment with sales growth in the period, rising 12 percent to […]
Still More Google Books Objections
Among other filings with the NY District Court in the Google Books Settlement case found after our pretty thorough list in yesterday’s Lunch: The Songwriters’ Guild of America says the agreement’s definition of a book, which “includes musical notation and lyrics that do not reach or exceed” certain threshhold, makes music creators and rightsholders in musical works subject to the settlement “despite having had no opportunity to negotiate the terms of such uses. This is a patently unfair result.” Proquest also objected, saying that they are a “class member who has played by the rules of copyright and contract law […]