Under political pressure, Amazon is now giving third-party merchants on its US site the same break they provided to European merchants way back in 2013: The company has dropped price parity or most favored nations conditions that blocked sellers from offering their goods at lower prices on other websites. Amazon confirmed the change, without making any statement about it. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal had written to the Assistant Attorney General for the Anti-Trust Division about this very issue last December. On Monday, Blumenthal commented, “Amazon’s wise and welcome decision comes only after aggressive advocacy and attention that compelled Amazon to […]
Archives for March 2019
Arthur Levine to Leave Scholastic, Start New Company
Scholastic announced late Tuesday that Arthur A. Levine, publisher of Arthur A. Levine Books, is leaving “to form his own independent publishing company.” Levine’s backlist of over 300 titles remains as Scholastic, including most prominently the Harry Potter books. Scholastic Trade president Ellie Berger says in the announcement, “Reflecting upon the many contributions Arthur and his editorial teams have made to Scholastic’s publishing program these last twenty-three years, I am very proud of the many award-winning, bestselling, and beloved books created. We wish Arthur continued success as he builds his own independent publishing company.”
Roger Stone’s Attorneys Have An Odd Way of Apologizing
Attorneys for Roger Stone filed a number of documents Monday night, as required by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who may decide later this week whether Stone’s inflammatory new introduction to his book from Skyhorse violates her gag order. They are having a tough time explaining why that introduction was not mentioned in earlier filings with the court or during the February 21 hearing that led to the new gag order. The attorneys continue to insist it just didn’t occur to them (“even if it had crossed counsel’s mind to raise the new introduction (and it did not)…,” even as they […]
Announcements: Howard Stern Book Official, As Are New Imprints and Elton John Event
Simon & Schuster is finally acknowledging their delayed Howard Stern book — first announced accidentally through metadata last July, and originally expected for publication in September (then bumped to November, then to March 2019, and finally to May 14). The book is called HOWARD STERN COMES AGAIN, and Simon & Schuster publisher Jonathan Karp confirms in the announcement, “I’ve been waiting two years for this book to be finished, because Howard Stern told me to be patient.” S&S will publish in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Canada as well, and acquired world rights to the book. In other celebrity […]
People, Etc.
Thames & Hudson’s publishing director Sophy Thompson will be promoted to ceo and publisher as of April 12, when Rolf Grisebach departs. Anne Speyer has been promoted to senior editor at Ballantine Bantam Dell. Nichole Argyres has been promoted to senior publishing manager, St. Martin’s publishing group. At Tom Doherty Associates, Megan Barnard has been promoted to adpromo assistant creative director; Julia Bergen has been promoted to adpromo associate marketing manager; and Kristin Temple has been promoted to assistant editor. Maria Gomez has been promoted to executive editor at Montlake Romance. At Chronicle Books, Aubrey Rojas has joined as social media […]
F+W Seeks Bankruptcy Protection While Selling Off Their Businesses
After many rounds of restructuring and refinancing, on Sunday F+W Media filed papers in a Delaware Bankruptcy Court, seeking protection while they sell off all their businesses “to maximize the value of their estates for the benefit of all their stakeholders.” The company says it was “facing near-term liquidity issues” and “determined that the only viable alternative, which would allow it to survive while providing relief from its obligations, was to pursue a sale transaction within the context of a chapter 11 filing.” They have obtained a proposed $8 million in debtor-in-possession financing from a small subset of their existing […]