Hagens Berman (joined by another firm, Sperling & Slater) filed a second lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Amazon and the five largest trade publishers, this time seeking class-action status on behalf of booksellers, alleging that Amazon has monopolized the online book market and that somehow the big publishers colluded to ensure that Amazon beats them up on terms, all for the sake of controlling their wholesale prices (which they are allowed to do). In January, Hagens Berman had sued Amazon — and then the five largest trade publishers — over Amazon’s monopoly control of the ebook […]
New Editor PSA: Israel on Instagram Live
Recently-hired Simon & Schuster senior editor Yahdon Israel addressed prospective authors directly on Instagram Live Wednesday afternoon (recorded here), “Letting you know who I am and what I really do.” As he noted, his first wave of submissions “operated in a framework of how publishing has existed. In other words, you are pitching me imagining me to be someone that represents the establishment in a way that doesn’t align with who I really am.” Broadly, Israel advised, “I want to work with the writers who understand the communities that are going to be impacted because your work is in the […]
Book Excerpt: The Story Behind Ingram’s Abandoned Sale to Barnes & Noble
Ingram Content Group celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year and is commemorating the occasion with the publication of THE FAMILY BUSINESS: How Ingram Transformed the World of Books on April 20. Author Keel Hunt conducted extensive interviews with many of the key participants in building ICG over the years. Former Simon & Schuster ceo Jack Romanos says in the book, “If you look at the last fifty years of trade publishing in America, Ingram’s evolution is as important as anything that’s happened…. I wouldn’t have wanted to have to run a great publishing company without Ingram’s help and support.” But […]
Digital Briefs: Costco Audiobooks, AAP Opposes Library eBook Legislation
Costco started selling value-priced collections of digital audiobooks recently, playable through their own audiobooks app. For now they offer approximately 175 different collections to members. As Maryland (and other states) considers legislation that would require ebook publishers to also “license the book to public libraries in the state on reasonable terms,” the AAP explains in opposition that such state laws are invalid. “Federal copyright law prohibits this type of regulation of copyrights by state governments,” the organization writes. And such legislation also “raises significant Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause concerns and would likely be found to violate the U.S. […]
People, Etc.
At Harper Children’s Jessie Gang has been promoted to design manager, and Cecilia Payseur has been promoted to senior designer. Phillip Loken will join University of North Carolina Press as associate digital marketing manager. Natalie Todoroff has joined Jane Starr Literary Scouts as scout. She was formerly at Foundry Literary + Media. Launches Founder of Twitter pitch event #DVpit and literary agent Beth Phelan has created DiverseVoices, Inc., a nonprofit for marginalized book creators. Phelan is president, joined by Kat Cho (vice president), LeKesha Lewis (treasurer) and Norma Perez-Hernandez (secretary). The programs team includes Nina Grauer and literary agent Peter Knapp. The […]
Penguin Random House’s Deal to Buy S&S Faces Increased Scrutiny In Both US and UK
Penguin Random House’s pending $2.175 billion deal to acquire Simon & Schuster drew headlines Monday following an announcement from the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority that it launched a merger inquiry last Friday. Of potentially greater significance, however, and reported here exclusively, is that the acquisition is now facing a more detailed level of scrutiny from regulators in the US. Within the last week or so, employees report, the Department of Justice extended its review with a “second request” for more detailed information. Second requests require a far more extensive, and expensive, production of documents and information from the deal […]