For those heading to the London Book Fair shortly, note that there are planned tube closures this weekend that may effect travel to Earl’s Court and the conference center in Westminster. Most notably, the Circle line is scheduled to be closed entirely both Saturday and Sunday. The District line will be partially suspended both days, with no service from Earl’s Court to the east, including Westminster. Earl’s Court should still be serviced by Picadilly line and Westminster should still be serviced by the Jubilee line. You can check the official London transport site for more details. Meanwhile, per tradition we […]
Archives for April 2012
Happier News: JK Rowling’s Novel, THE CASUAL VACANCY, Lands September 27
Ahead of the London Book Fair, Little, Brown UK announced the title and publication date of JK Rowling’s novel for adults. Described as a “blackly comic” novel centered around a small town in which everyone is at war with each other that’s exacerbated by the unexpected death of a parish council member, THE CASUAL VACANCY will be released worldwide on September 27. Running approximately 480 pages, the hardcover is priced at $35 and the ebook at $19.99. The full description provided reads: “When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. […]
People: Barba to Retire from HBG, and More
Hachette Book Group’s evp, sales Chris Barba “has decided to retire after 33 years of distinguished service to this company,” leaving April 20. CEO David Young writes, “She has had a remarkable career here, and under her leadership the HBG sales force has established a reputation as one of the absolute best teams in the business…. She is a great champion of so many books and authors, that it’s impossible to list them all. Her tenacity and expertise have enabled her to serve the company, her customers and her team brilliantly.” No replacement has been named yet. Executive editor at […]
Penguin’s Makinson: “We Have Done Nothing Wrong”
Penguin Group ceo John Makinson issued a statement about the lawsuit his company faces from the Department of Justice and a group of attorneys general on Wednesday. He writes: “A responsible company does not choose a path of litigation with US Government agencies without carefully weighing the implications of that course of action.” But, Makinson says, “we have done nothing wrong. The decisions that we took, many them of them costly and difficult, were taken by Penguin alone.” As for Justice’s complaint filed today, “the document contains a number of material misstatements and omissions, which we look forward to having […]
A Few Things About the Publisher Settlement Become A Little Clearer
pdating our stories from the heat of battle Wednesday, there are a few things about the settlement between HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and the Department of Justice that we can clarify. First of all, don’t expect any immediate changes at any ebookstore, including Apple’s iBookstore. All of the requirements for contractual changes will come only after entry of final judgment, which is subject to a review period of 60 days. During that period, “any person who wishes to comment” is welcome to write to: John Read Chief Litigation III Section Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice 450 […]
States’ Lawsuit Tells Similar Story, But Shares Other Details
The separate lawsuit alleging horizontal conspiracy against Apple and the original five agency publishers has been filed–and will be litigated–in Texas, where the Attorney General’s office began a “non-public investigation” in March 2010 (first revealed by PL in June 2010). The filing dovetails in many respects with the Department of Justice’s Federal lawsuit, though they depict portions of the story in their own way. By their telling it was “by no later than the end of summer 2009” that the “conspiring publishers reached an agreement that something had to be done to end Amazon’s $9.99 pricing of NYT-bestsellers.” Among other […]