The European Union’s antitrust investigation into ebook pricing has long been more opaque than the US case, but a single-source story from Reuters offers a vague update to a previous report of an impending settlement from early July. According to this story, Apple, along with S&S, Macmillan, Hachette, and HarperCollins, “will allow retailers such as Amazon to sell e-books at a discount for two years in a bid to end an EU antitrust investigation and stave off possible fines.” In other words, the EU seems to want nothing more or less than the DOJ and state attorneys general offered and […]
Archives for August 2012
Pentagon Says Former SEAL Owen Is In “Material Breach” and May Sue
The Pentagon has threatened to take action against former Navy SEAL Mark Owen–and potentially everyone involved in the publication process–for publishing without gaining the required clearances from the government ahead of time. Defense Department general counsel Jeh Johnson said in a letter obtained by Reuters: “I write to formally advise you of your material breach and violation of your agreements, and to inform you that the department is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation.” Johnson adds that “further public dissemination of your book […]
50 Shades Drives “Record Operating Profits” At Random House
As expected, sales of the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy–selling more than 30 million units in the reported period in English–powered Random House to “record operating profits” for the first six months of the year and made the book divison a standout performer for Bertelsmann as well. Random House’s sales for the reported period grew 160 million euros, or 20 percent, to €947 million for the period, and operating EBIT increased to €113 million, up 64 percent from €69 million a year ago. The company notes that “favorable currency exchange rates also contributed to its positive performance.” (The weakened euro […]
Schwalbe’s THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB Tops October Indie Next List; Guardian First Book Nominees
The ABA has announced its October Indie Next List, which includes three titles — SUTTON by JR Moehringer, IN SUNLIGHT AND IN SHADOW by Mark Helprin, and LIVE BY NIGHT by Dennis Lehane — among the featured excerpts in our popular free ebook anthology of selections from over 30 big forthcoming books, BEA BUZZ BOOKS. Most of the excerpted titles release later in the year (and into next January), so if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s as relevant now as it was when we released it before BEA. Pick up the “trade version” at the link above, or […]
Hachette First Half Sales Flat As All Major Territories Decline
What you can say about Lagardere Publishing’s reported sales for the first half of the year is, it could have been worse. Even with “a substantial market contraction in all countries in which the division operates”–from a 2.9 percent decline in French results to a 4 percent drop in US sales and a 7.6 percent decline in the UK–totals sales of 905 million euros were actually up, by a slim 0.5 percent on a reported basis, compared to 900 million euros a year ago. (Apparently “a complex accounting adjustment linked to reserves for returns in education” helped balance out those […]
As Expected, Amazon Acquires Bulk of Dorchester Backlist
On August 28 Amazon Publishing formally acquired the rights to more than 1000 titles published by Dorchester Publishing, ending the drawn-out saga of the mass market publisher’s longstanding financial troubles. Amazon had originally signaled its intentions to buy out contracts still under the banner of Dorchester Books (which owed nearly $3 million to owner John Backe) in a notice of disposition filed on June 27. There were no other bids. As part of the deal Dorchester authors were offered the opportunity to join Amazon Publishing and receive the full back royalties that Dorchester indicated were owed. Any authors who elected […]