As expected, the UK Publishers Association and Independent Publishers Guild are asking the government to block Amazon’s purchase of The Book Depository, calling for a wider public investigation into the competition between the online and bricks and mortar bookselling market. What’s less expected is that their request is a joint one, which PA ceo Richard Mollet said in a statement “reflects the strength of feeling among publishing companies that the OFT should block this merger.” Bookseller Meanwhile, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will conduct an ‘informal review’ of Pearson’s proposed acquisition of REDGRoup Retail’s online business. The closing […]
Archives for July 2011
Judge Glenn Grants Preliminary Approval to Liquidators As Stalking Horse Bid; Objections Postponed to Monday Afternoon
Uncertainty over exactly what Najafi Companies intended to do with Borders if they bought it led to the collapse of their purchase offer by the end of Wednesday, and now the chain is headed to liquidation unless another bidder comes forward or Najafi prevails during the actual auction. The bid from liquidators that Borders had submitted to the court at the same time as the Najafi offer has been made the “stalking horse bid” for the July 19 auction, which just received Judge Martin Glenn’s approval this morning in court, pending filing of revised papers. Glenn, whose patience was wearing […]
Live from Today’s Borders Hearing
As relayed from court by Sarah Weinman (we’ll keep updating): Uncertainty over exactly what Najafi Companies intended to do with Borders if they bought it led to the collapse of their purchase offer by the end of Wednesday, and now the chain is headed to liquidation unless another bidder comes forward or Najafi prevails during the actual auction. The bid from liquidators that Borders had submitted to the court at the same time as the Najafi offer has been made the “stalking horse bid” for the July 19 auction, awaiting Judge Martin Glenn’s official approval later this morning in court. […]
Remembrance: Clara Heyworth, 28
Verso announced Wednesday on their web site “the tragic loss of Clara Heyworth, marketing manager” after she was hit by a car in Brooklyn early Sunday. They say she never regained consciousness. “The loss to Verso is immeasurable…. While her primary interest was in publicity she had very strong editorial views and intervened forcefully whenever she felt that by taking on an inappropriate manuscript Verso’s standards would be diluted. A young life so meaninglessly and prematurely truncated pains us all, but we will not forget her or her bright-eyed smile that so often lit an entire office.” Heyworth was married […]
More eNews, Off the Beaten Path: Muhammed Ali Sues Kobo; An Author’s eFirst Serial; Chinese Authors Complain to Apple; and More
Muhammad Ali Enterprises has sued Kobo in a New York Federal Court, saying the company used the apparently-trademarked “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” phrase in an ereader ad without permission. Bloomberg Author Keith Devlin has self-published electronically a section that had been cut from his just-released book THE MAN OF NUMBERS, under the title Leonardo & Steve: The Young Genius Who Beat Apple to Market by 800 Years. Priced at $2.99, the self-published ebook was issued more or less simultaneously with the full title from Bloomsbury, packaged with the first chapter from the book itself. Agent Ted […]
Device/eReader News: Two Blasts From the Past (Blio for Mac and New Sony Readers) and Amazon Tablet Non-News
Blio Finally Adds iOS App–For Existing Customers Long after it was promised, Blio finally launched iOS apps in Apple’s App Store on Tuesday (announced in a press release that for some odd reason was embargoed until today). But it has an odd paradigm: the app is really for those hardy few who “already have a Blio account” who “can now read all their books on their iPad, iPhones or iPods by…entering their Blio account information.” So the app wants you to have an account already, and does not appear to let you create an account via the app. This may […]