UK bookseller Waterstones has secured a new financing facility of £125 million “to support its future growth.” The package comprises a £75 million term loan and a £50 million revolving credit facility. The company’s cfo Karen Ashworth said: “Waterstones would like to thank Barclays and HSBC for their continued partnership in increasing the syndicated facility that supports the financing needs of the business.” When the bookseller reported its most recent fiscal year results in April, they indicated they were in the process of arranging a new £50 million term loan and £50 million credit facility, so the final arrangements are […]
Archives for August 2025
Plus the Prince Andrew Book Later this Week (In the UK)
Andrew Lownie’s explosive book ENTITLED: The Rise and Fall of the House of York will publish in the UK on August 14, from Harper UK. Blackstone Audio will release an audiobook version in the US on October 13. The joint biography of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson has already received considerable attention in the UK press, with the Daily Mail — which published excerpts at the beginning of the month — touting it as, “The most devastating royal biography ever written.” The BBC declared, “Prince Andrew book seals his fate for any return.” Their reporter writes, “In the case of […]
New Books Publishing August 12
This week’s fiction releases include novels by Karin Slaughter and Chuck Tingle, while new nonfiction includes work from Jon Lee Anderson, Kid Cudi, and Alyson Stoner. Also publishing this week are novels by Daphne Fama, Aisha Muharrar, and Zhang Yueran, all excerpted in our Buzz Books 2025: Spring/Summer anthology. You can watch Fama discuss her book in our thrilling horror panel. 35 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-august-12 12 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-august-12 From Buzz Books https://buzz.publishersmarketplace.com/ We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our […]
People 8/12
Associated Press Ends Weekly Book Reviews
Last week the Associated Press alerted its freelance book reviewers that the outlet would be ending its weekly reviews, starting September 1. The AP will “continue covering books as stories” which will be handled by journalists on staff. There are no changes to the AP staff. “This was a difficult decision but one made after a thorough review of AP’s story offerings and what is being most read on our website and mobile apps as well as what customers are using,” the memo reads. “Unfortunately, the audience for book reviews is relatively low and we can no longer sustain the […]
Anthropic Tries to Appeal Author Class Certification, Claims It Faces “‘Death-Knell’ Situation”
Enjoy, at least for a brief moment, that AI company Anthropic’s legal posturing expressing outright existential panic, as it filed a petition in early August with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to appeal the certification of a broad class of copyright owners of “any book in the versions of” the pirate libraries LibGen or PiLiMi downloaded by Anthropic. This frail start-up tells the Court of Appeals it may be forced into massive settlement of billions of dollars over their theft of 7 million illegally pirated books, pleading that, “This case presents a quintessential ‘death-knell’ situation justifying immediate […]