SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) Group moved their sales and distribution in the US and Canada to Two Rivers Distribution as of July 1, from Baker & Taylor Publisher Services.
Join Our Romance Buzz Panel on Wednesday Night
Tomorrow night is the night for our virtual Buzz Romance Editors Panel, at 7 pm ET, on Wednesday, August 21. We’re excited to have our first-ever librarian host, romance enthusiast Beth Gabriel from the Milwaukee Public Library. Register here if you haven’t already to hear four featured authors from the sampler in conversation with their editors.
German Bookseller Weltbild Will Close
With no buyer to be found, German bookseller Weltbild will close its 14 remaining stores by the end of August and liquidate. Most of the approximately 440 employees will lose their jobs. But Augsburger Allgemeine reports that the country’s leading bookseller Thalia is interested in acquiring assets from the bankruptcy estate — including inventory, trademark rights and the Tolino ereader and ebook business. Thalia has submitted an application to the Federal Cartel Office regarding its purchase interest.
IPG to Offer Client Digital Product to Libraries for Perpetual Access
Independent Publishers Group (IPG) has paired with the Digital Public Library of America to offer “tens of thousands of ebook and audiobook titles” from a number of their publisher clients for outright purchase and perpetual access, rather than time- or usage-limited access. IPG recently sold their digital distribution business to Bookwire. Clearly welcomed by libraries, unfortunately the announcement engages in inflammatory and disingenuous rhetoric. They claim that, “Since the advent and spread of digital content, libraries have only been able to license ebooks and audiobooks from publishers and aggregators with no option to buy, trapping libraries in licensing agreements where […]
Lakeside to Add New Press at Willard, OH Facility
Lakeside Book Company announced today it will add a new 64-page, 4-color offset, wide-web press (a manroland Goss Lithoman) at its big 1.3 million square foot Willard, Ohio plant. The press will be operational in less than a year and the company says the investment will create 100 new jobs at the facility. The plant already “produces upwards of 50 million books a year.”
People 8/15
Clive Priddle will step down as Public Affairs publisher, effective September 13.