• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Briefs

July 22, 2020
By Erin Somers

Controversies
After UK thriller writer Mark Dawson admitted — or boasted? — about buying his way onto the Sunday Times bestseller list with a modest purchase of 400 hardcovers, Nielsen Bookscan has recalculated that Top 10 chart to remove Dawson’s book and the paper will issue a correction. Nielsen says they initially believed the purchase was related to a virtual book signing. Dawson, who still promotes his “top 10” listing on his Twitter page, said in a Twitter thread he was only cheating a little, not a lot: “If I was intent on ‘gaming the system’ I would have bought 10k copies, sat on them forever and been number one. (I wouldn’t have discussed it on a popular podcast, either).” A successful self-published author, Dawson sells online courses such as How to Write A Bestseller ($297).

Retail Sales
The NYT shares with the general public how book sales rose during the pandemic at big box retail outlets such as Target and Walmart, which stayed open as book chains and independent booksellers closed. Midwest-based superstore chain Meijer “is in the process of expanding the book department in about 80 of its 253 stores, part of a plan that was in place before the pandemic.”

At Readerlink, which distributes to a substantial portion of nonbook retailers, sales in the first week of April were 34 percent higher than the same time the previous year. The paper doesn’t mention the larger and more recent issue at Readerlink, which suffered a significant hack of their systems about a month ago. In response to our query, ceo Dennis Abboud reports that, “Our systems have been restored and substantially enhanced security protocols have been implemented under guidance from the cybersecurity firm’s experts.”

Legal
The punk band The Misfits settled their copyright infringement lawsuit against Abrams over publication of the photobook Scream with Me. The parties informed the court of their voluntary dismissal with prejudice, with each party paying its own legal fees and costs. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Filed Under: Bestseller Radar, Free, Legal, Statistics

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Booktopia Borrows $12 Million (AU) For New Fulfillment Center, With Some Funding From Nash and Taurig February 3, 2023 Press Release
  • Barnes & Noble Signs Lease for 7,000-Square-Foot Store in Brunswick, ME February 3, 2023 Maine Biz
  • A Former Prosecutor Explains the Precedents On Woodward and S&S's Side February 2, 2023 The Hill
  • Author Booted From Horror Writers Association Over Racist, Transphobic Rants February 1, 2023 Daily Beast
  • Two Years Ago Netflix Settled A Lawsuit Brought by Chooseco; Now Random House Has Licensed A "Stranger Things" Choose Your Own Adventure Book February 1, 2023 PW (with no reference to the lawsuit)
  • London Book Fair Seminars to Feature Harper CEO Brian Murray, Author Colson Whitehead February 1, 2023 Show site
  • Folio Prize Shortlists Announced February 1, 2023 Prize site
  • Barnes &. Noble Plans 15,000-Square-Foot Store At The Avenue East Cobb in Atlanta January 30, 2023 East Cobb News
  • Boris Johnson Received £510,000 As First Advance on His Memoirs January 27, 2023 Parliamentary Disclosure
  • Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne's Literary Archives Acquired by New York Public Library January 27, 2023 NYT
© 2023 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.