Remember when the US enforced antitrust laws against large companies dominating particular markets (rather than turning antitrust on its head to punish smaller companies trying to preserve a competitive market in the face of predatory pricing from a giant vertical monopolist)? Well be still your jaded but still beating publishing hearts: On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition created a task force “dedicated to monitoring competition in US technology markets, investigating any potential anticompetitive conduct in those markets, and taking enforcement actions when warranted.” That Technology Task Force includes approximately 17 attorneys. FTC Chairman Joe Simons said in […]
Archives for February 2019
Self-Publishing Group Accused of Stacking Nebula Nominations
The 2018 Nebula Award finalists, announced last week, have sparked controversy in the science fiction and fantasy community, drawing accusations that a self-publishing group called 20Booksto50K stacked this year’s list with a slate of self-published authors they selected. The Nebulas are voted on by SFWA members, and according to a post by author Cora Buhlert, five of six of this year’s finalists are “military leaning space opera or outright military SF,” an unusually disproportionate number for the sub-genre, and all six are members of 20Booksto50K. Buhlert writes that 20Booksto50K “started out as a Facebook group for business minded indie writers […]
HMH Stock Drops Sharply on Earnings Report
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported full year and 4th quarter earnings for 2018 Thursday morning — and despite closing sales ahead of expectations, and within the company’s 2018 guidance, the market reacted sharply. Shares were down more than 11 percent in the first hour of trading, with a higher-than-expected fourth quarter loss from continuing operations and a looming refinancing of their big debt load. Net sales for the year from continuing operations (given the fall sale of the Riverside Assessments division) were just below flat, to $1.32 billion from $1.33 billion in 2017; the $24 million sales decrease in the company’s […]
People, Etc.
San Francisco Chronicle books editor John McMurtrie announced on Twitter on Wednesday, “I got laid off.” He added, “The bright side? More time for reading.” (Separately, arts and entertainment editor and Sunday datebook editor Leba Hertz tell us she is retiring at the end of the week, by her choice.) We queried editor-in-chief Audrey Cooper about what McMurtrie’s dismissal means for their coverage, and she writes: “We still plan on having robust coverage of books, including reviews. This personnel decision is not a reflection of the importance of that content for The Chronicle.” Lisa Erwin has been promoted to director […]
Washington Post Hopes to Issue Mueller Report Book
The Washington Post has sold a book on THE MUELLER REPORT to Colin Harrison at Scribner, intending to publish “instantly” as an ebook and paperback — but only if the results of the investigation are made public. Todd Shuster and Bridget Matzie at Aevitas represented the newspaper. (The publisher has audio and will publish in the UK as well.) “In addition to publishing the findings of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III (when and if they become public), The Mueller Report will draw on The Washington Post’s extensive reporting on the investigation.” That includes an introduction by journalists Rosalind S. […]
Silicon Valley Foundation Crankstart Is New Booker Prize Funder
The flicker of false (and you might say falsely-targeted) hope in the UK trade that a new sponsor for the Booker Prize might let them remove Americans from contention has probably been extinguished — since the new sponsors live in California. (The Booker Foundation insists, “A sponsor or funder has no say over the rules.”) Sequoia Capital billionaire partner Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman, both writers and philanthropists, have agreed to fund the prizes for at least five years starting June 1, after the 2019 International Booker winner is announced, through Crankstart, their charitable foundation. They will spare […]