As we reported earlier, LSC recently told shareholders it is in “limited default” on its loans and absent a restructuring of that debt or injection of capital they may not “continue as a going concern,” which means they could be facing bankruptcy. On Tuesday activist shareholder Sententia Capital, which nominated its own slate of directors for the board in February, took a more aggressive stance. In a new letter, they accused the current LSC board of “frustrating the will of stockholders” and expressed concern “that the board and management’s next step at the expense of stockholders will be to accelerate […]
AAP Trade Publishers Had Flat Sales for 2019
The AAP reported December 2019 sales and released their full totals for 2019 sales, along with final numbers for 2018. Though the historical baseline was revised lower for much of the year for adult sales, the final totals wind up matching the report from a year ago almost exactly. The organization’s pool of reporting publishers recorded 2019 trade sales that were almost exactly flat, registering $7.249 billion in 2019, versus $7.245 billion in 2018. (For comparison, AAP-reported trade sales were $6.926 billion in 2017, and $7.006 billion in 2016.) Adult sales fell $139 million in 2019, down 1.9 percent, while […]
Forthcoming: Gaga’s Book of Young People’s Stories, and More Ina Garten
Our deal reports are filling with London Book Fair-time acquisitions and announcements, even though the event has been cancelled, and this week should see more high-profile fall release news as well as a result. Lady Gaga’s Channel Kindness foundation has created a book of the same name: Feiwel and Friends will publish CHANNEL KINDNESS on September 22. It’s a collection of inspirational stories written by young people, and includes “personal notes of empowerment” from Lady Gaga.”These storytellers share how they felt, created safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, and embraced kindness with every fiber of their being by helping others without […]
Author Luis Sepulveda Contracted COVID-19 At Portugese Literary Festival
Chilean writer Luis Sepulveda, who lives in northern Spain, has contracted COVID-19, according to local health authorities. He began to show symptoms on February 25 after returning home from the Correntes d’Escritas festival, held from February 15 through February 23, in Northern Portugal. The regional government said he is “stable” and indicated his wife is “also displaying the symptoms and is being tested.” Portuguese authorities are reportedly trying to make contact with the people who attended the festival. Sepulveda’s publisher Porto indicated on Twitter their staff “are all well, but, according to the recommendations of the [health authorities], they will […]
Hachette Still Wants to Publish Woody Allen, At Least In France
Following Friday’s cancellation of Woody Allen’s memoir A Propos of Nothing by Hachette Book Group, at least some of the international licensees expressed their intention — or desire — to go forward with publication. Most prominently, Hachette’s Editions Stock wants to proceed. Director of the imprint Manuel Carcassonne told Le Point: “The American situation is not ours. Woody Allen is a great artist, filmmaker, writer, and his New York Jewish humor can still be read in every line of this autobiography, in self-mockery, modesty, and the art of disguising the tragic in comedy. Including at his expense. It is sad […]
Macmillan Starts Discussions On Alternate Library eBook Pricing that Avoids Embargo Through Different Charges
Macmillan recently shared some potential new pricing models for library ebook lending that could take the place of their current controversial embargo on making new-release ebooks available to libraries in the first eight weeks of publication. The new models are intended to “open discussions on possible new library models,” and were shared with a small number of individual librarians, as well as with a number of library associations, including the ALA (American Library Association) and the PLA (Public Library Association). ReadersFirst, an organization of libraries from around the world, posted a file summarizing the proposals, and offered some of their […]