On Tuesday morning, Indigo announced results for the second quarter 2022 ended October 2, with sales of CA$239 million, up 16.3 percent from $205 million during the same period last year. The company proudly proclaimed results as above pre-pandemic levels, but that’s due in part to a string of weak reports for this period since 2017, when sales were $224.5 million. But the biggest difference had nothing to do with operating sales: Revenue was bolstered by a one-time payment of $17 million from Starbucks, as Indigo renegotiated their contract and closed a number of in-store cafes. Net earnings for the […]
Archives for November 2021
Chelsea Green Sues Elizabeth Warren For “First Amendment Violation”
Vermont publisher Chelsea Green filed a federal lawsuit in a Washington District Court against Senator Elizabeth Warren, claiming she violated the First Amendment in a September 7 letter to Amazon ceo Andy Jassy cautioning the retailer about the role of their algorithm in promoting vaccine conspiracy books. The publisher was joined in the suit by authors of The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal Dr. Joseph Mercola, Ronald Cummins, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In her letter, Warren referred to the book as “vaccine misinformation” and “potentially unlawful.” Warren’s letter was prompted by a […]
Newspaper Hates Portland, Loves Powell’s: Irreconciliable Differences?
In the great tradition of NYT stories asking if a given place can possibly be saved, the business section offers a bizarre piece about the Fox News hellscape that is Portland, OR — where smoke from forest fires “pervad[ed] a near-biblical sense of doom.” With efforts to recover at Powell’s Books the vague focus, the story suggests that they are talking broadly about life and bookstores in America: “How will brick-and-mortar stores fare in a time of continued fear over a deadly, airborne plague? What happens to city life when sidewalks are strewn with the rain-soaked belongings of people who […]
People 11/9
Graywolf Press director and publisher Fiona McCrae will retire in June 2022, after 27 years in the position.
Alternate Realities: When Penguin Bought Random House, and Big Authors Got Royalties
It could be a while before we know the outcome of the DOJ’s lawsuit to block Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster, but the action is already resulting in a bull market for clueless reporting and commentary. From Bloomberg, we get an “analysis” from someone so well versed in publishing they think Penguin acquired Random House (I guess because their name is first?): “Admittedly, it doesn’t look like Penguin’s previous acquisition of Random House harmed the market at all.” The author also fails to understand that Simon & Schuster UK is a relatively small operation and was never […]
Obituary: Shannon Orso
Victress Literary founder Shannon Orso, 41, died on September 25. Senior agent Lizz Nagle wrote, “She was our fierce defender, our best friend, our neon light. Victress exists because of her vision. It grew because of her heart.”