Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock’s has launched a preliminary inquiry into the practices of the Central Asia Institute, the charity established by Greg Mortenson to fund schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said in a statement, “my office will not jump to any conclusions — but we have a responsibility to make sure charitable assets are used for their intended purposes.” (A spokesperson for the office told the AP it “has not reached the level of a full-scale investigation” yet.) AP Separately, Mansur Khan Mahsud, the man who works at a Pakistani think tank but was described in THREE CUPS […]
Archives for April 2011
Kobo Finalizes $50 Million Financing
Kobo has closed an investment round that raised $50 million in new financing. For those paying attention, note that it’s actually the second announcement about the same funding round. In early March they disclosed new financing led by Fidelity Investments, without releasing the amount raised. Tuesday’s announcement revealed the amount, but pretended to keep Fidelity’s name of out it. Indigo invested $13 million, and current investor Cheung Kong Holdings also contributed a nominal amount, with Fidelity adding approximately $37 million. Indigo’s investment has been diluted from 58 percent down to 51 percent, so they still have control of the company. […]
Reversal of Fortune: Barnes & Noble Rises 14% on 3 Mil Shares, Breaks $10 A Share
Barnes & Noble shares took a wild ride in Tuesday trading. At one point (as we wrote yesterday) they were as low as $8.45–the lowest intraday mark since January 1996. But just after 1:00 PM shares took off, briefly breaking the $10 mark and closing at $9.96 a share. Up over 13.5% for the day, almost three million shares traded hands. The company’s stock is extremely sensitive to market movements now, with very high short interest, so the day’s movement could be a short squeeze, or it could represent anticipation of deal news. Yesterday’s BN news actually leaned in the […]
Ingram Pairs with Recorded Books to Go After Overdrive’s Library Audio Service
Ingram put out an elliptical press release yesterday that we have clarified with help from their general manager of Ingram Library Services, Rich Rosy. Recorded Books is launch a platform called OneClickdigital later this quarter to distribute downloadable audiobooks to library patrons, which sounds like an alternative to Overdrive’s established offering. In the announced collaboration, Ingram will distribute other publishers’ audio files through Recorded Books’ new platform, though of course only for those publishers who choose to consent to the platform’s business model. Rosy says “Ingram will add almost 14,000 audio titles from approximately 80 publishers to the platform.” He […]
People, Etc.
Author, former editor and attorney Jeff Ourvan has joined the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency as a literary agent. He focuses on non-fiction works, especially memoirs, histories, biographies, international current events and sports, along with some young adult, thriller and international fiction. Stephanie Knapp is joining Crown trade paperbacks assistant editor, reporting to Heather Lazare and Alexis Washam. She was an editorial assistant at Rodale Books. She will “concentrate on backlist optimization in print and digital formats with a focus on practical non-fiction.” Keen Communications mourns the passing of Thomas Winnett, founder of Wilderness Press, who died last week at 89. […]
A Few More Servings of Controversy and Questions
The controversy surrounding Greg Mortenson, his book THREE CUPS OF TEA, and his charity the Central Asia Institute continues to grow and expand in unforseen ways. Author Jon Krakauer, whose accusations were the centerpiece of what was offered on Sunday night as 60 Minutes’ own investigation, has written a 75-page book on the same subject, THREE CUPS OF DECEIT: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way. It’s the launch ebook for Byliner.com, which is providing free PDFs through April 20 (and promises that all author proceeds will go, yes, to charity: the Stop Girl Trafficking Project). That provokes all […]