Following the filing of 22-page complaint against Amazon by Germany’s trade association representing publishers and booksellers (the Boersenverein), Amazon has issued a statement that replies to at least a portion of that complaint. The company states: “We are aware of the complaint by the Boersenverein that alleges that we are delaying shipments to customers – this allegation is not true. We are currently buying less print inventory than we ordinarily do on some titles from the publisher Bonnier. We are shipping orders immediately if we have inventory on hand. For titles with no stock on hand, customers can still place […]
Archives for June 2014
Perseus, Hachette, Ingram Deal Made “Official”
By the end of the work day Tuesday, the parties confirmed with a press release the deal to sell Perseus Books Group to Hachette Book Group, with HBG having “binding commitments” to purchase all of PBG and in turn sell the sizable distribution lines to Ingram Content Group. Hachette will gain approximately 6,000 titles from the Perseus imprints, and will “make Perseus…a major new publishing division of the company.” The official release is relatively scant on details, and the purchase price was not disclosed. Apparently that information will not be shared any time soon, though presumably the transaction is material […]
Perseus Imprints to be Sold to Hachette Book Group; Distribution Units to Ingram Content
The owners of the Perseus Books Group have agreed to a sale of the company, in an unusual three-way transaction, with a formal announcement expected later today following final execution of the documents. Our understanding of the deal based on people familiar with the negotiations is that Hachette Book Group is purchasing PBG, and then in turn will sell to Ingram Content Group Perseus’s extensive distribution companies — including Perseus Distribution, PGW, the recently-formed Legato, and Consortium, plus the Constellation digital distribution platform and their share in the UK joint-venture Faber Factory Powered by Constellation. What HBG retains is Perseus’s […]
German Trade Association Asks for Investigation Into Amazon
In Europe, the Germany Publishers and Booksellers Association (the Borsenverein) announced today that it filed a 22-page complaint last week against Amazon with the Federal Cartel Office, asking for an investigation into the etailers’ negotiations with book publishers and accusing the company of violating antitrust laws. They are protesting Amazon’s intentional “business interruption” with the books published by Bonnier in Germany, similar to what Hachette has been experiencing in the US. To be clear, the association is relying on media reports indicating Amazon is looking to increase their share of ebook proceeds to 40 percent or 50 percent. Borsenverien chief executive […]
Awards: Amazon’s Best Books So Far; Beevor Wins Pritzker
Amazon announced its multiple Best Books of 2014 So Far lists. Their overall No. 1 pick is Adam Begley’s biography UPDIKE and the rest of the top 10 includes Lily King’s PL Spring/Summer Buzz Book: 2. The Book of Unknown Americans, Cristina Henríquez: 3. Redeployment, Phil Klay 4. Euphoria, Lily King 5. No Place to Hide, Glenn Greenwald 6. In Paradise, Peter Matthiessen 7. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd 8. Red Rising by Pierce Brown 9. Savage Harvest, by Carl Hoffman 10. Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs Rounding out their Top 20 is: To […]
Open Road Says Harper Looks to Intimidate Other Authors
On Friday Open Road filed their reply to HarperCollins’ demand for the maximum statutory damages, over $1 million in legal costs, and a permanent injunction following the District Court’s finding that Open Road’s digital edition of Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES infringed Harper’s rights. Open Road argues that Harper “overreaches in its attempt to leverage the Court’s narrow ruling concerning a single work into remedies that would be grossly unfair and unwarranted to Open Road, and which would unduly prejudice the rights of many authors.” First and foremost, they object to the request that the court block Open […]