Harper Lee’s lawsuit against her former agent Sam Pinkus filed in May merits a lengthy feature by Mark Seal in the August issue of Vanity Fair (the magazine published a brief excerpt online earlier this week and provided us with a PDF copy of the entire piece.) While Seal quotes liberally from Lee’s original complaint, and also draws on Charles Shields’ unauthorized biography of Lee for some of the publishing background, he also paints a fuller portrait of the author, now 87 and living in an assisted living facility in Monroeville, Alabama. Though a friend said she is “paralyzed on […]
Archives for July 2013
The Book Attorney In This Town
Next Tuesday Blue Rider Press publishes reporter Mike Leibovich’s exuberantly bridge-torching account of the Washington, DC “media industrial complex” THIS TOWN, and you have probably seen extracts sprinkled liberally across preview articles. But those “nuggets” have focused on the political and journalism players, while most book publishing people will likely hone in on Chapter 2, which includes a look at Bob Barnett, “a single superlawyer cash redemeption center” who “can legitimize a person’s earning power just by representing him or her. This service to his country includes a strenuous ability to promote his clients in the media and an equally […]
People
Editorial director of Sterling Publishing Michael Fragnito is leaving the company on Friday after 13 years at Barnes & Noble. He writes: “I plan to stay in the business, and think this is a time of exciting change for our industry.” Random House UK’s Maureen Corish has been appointed group communications director, UK & international (English language) for Penguin Random House, reporting to Tom Weldon. Corish will continue to manage the Random House Consumer Insight team and corporate communications and media relations, while adding responsibility for post-merger internal communications and staff engagement. Penguin UK’s communications director Rebecca Sinclair is leaving the […]
New Owners Will Run Bookmasters In “Strategic Partnership” with Baker & Taylor
While private equity firm Castle Harlan has indeed bought Bookmasters from the Wurster family through one of the investment funds they control, the anticipated press release indicates they will keep it separate from Baker & Taylor — which they also own — while creating a “strategic partnership” between the two. (The original report we cited from the Ashland Gazette indicated the two companies would be merged together.) According to the release, “the two companies will operate under a commercial agreement to capitalize on their complementary strengths” though each is “independently owned” by Castle Harlan funds. Baker & Taylor will offer […]
Baker & Taylor Acquires Bookmasters
A full announcement is due shortly, but an Ashland, OH newspaper has reported that Baker & Taylor is intensifying their competition with rival Ingram by merging with the family-owned Bookmasters. Private equity firm Castle Harlan, which owns Baker & Taylor, has made the purchase and will merge B&T with Bookmasters. The paper says Bookmasters’ 200 employees were told of the news in a company meeting last week. The acquisition provides Baker & Taylor with some of the same printing and publisher-distribution services that Ingram has aggressively added to in recent years, along with ebook distribution services and other “integrated publishing […]
Even Faster Than Expected, Judge Finds Apple Guilty of Conspiracy to Raise eBook Prices
Federal Judge Denise Cote ruled against Apple in the government’s ebook price-fixing case even faster than was expected, fulfilling her preliminary inclination expressed before the trial began. (“As the parties were informed, the Court prepared a draft opinion in advance of the bench trial based on the witness affidavits and other documents submitted with the pretrial order and the arguments of counsel in their trial memoranda.”) Judge Cote found, “The Plaintiffs have shown that the Publisher Defendants conspired with each other to eliminate retail price competition in order to raise e-book prices, and that Apple played a central role in facilitating […]