As expected if you were following along during The Trial, Judge Florence Pan issued a brief order late Monday blocking Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. “Upon review of the extensive record and careful consideration of the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that the United States has shown that ‘the effect of [the proposed merger] may be substantially to lessen competition’ in the market for the U.S. publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books. Accordingly, judgment shall be entered in favor of the Plaintiff and the merger shall be enjoined.” For more details from the judge’s extensive opinion, everyone […]
Bookselling: Barnes & Noble Opens New Riverhead, NY Location
On Wednesday, November 2, Barnes & Noble will open a new store in Riverhead, NY, in the Riverhead Shopping Center, “the first new Barnes & Noble to open on Long Island in 14 years.” Most recent BN “openings” have been for replacement stores. In this case, they are serving a community that last had a chain bookstore in 2011, when Borders liquidated in 2011.
Rainy Day Books Sold to Local Owners
Longtime Kansas City independent bookstore Rainy Day Books will be sold to a local ownership group, with the deal expected to close in November. Some of the owners of Made in KC, a quickly-growing group of retail shops, have paired with a group of investors and bookstore customers known as Friends of Rainy Day Books, forming a consortium of at least 16 people financing the purchase. Made in KC co-owner Tyler Enders indicates “there are likely to be slight tweaks in the future, including the possibility of adding more locations. ‘We do want to bring more people into the shop, […]
People 10/27
Prince Harry’s Publishers
With the release of the publication date (January 10, 2023), title (Spare) and cover of Prince Harry’s long-awaited memoir, Penguin Random House has released additional details of interest to the trade but less covered elsewhere. The acquisition itself is credited to Gina Centrello in the US and Tom Weldon in the UK. Editors for the book are Ben Greenberg at Random House and Bill Scott-Kerr at Transworld. There are licenses in 15 additional languages: Outside of the PRH family, publishers include Politikens (Denmark), Hollands Diep (Netherlands), Otava (Finland), Fayard (France), Pedio Books (Greece), Corvina Books (Hungary), Mondadori (Italy), Marginesy (Poland), […]
Prince Harry’s Memoir Said to be Set for Publication on January 10, 2023
Prince Harry’s long awaited memoir, the subject of near endless speculation and rumor over the past few months, is said to now have a firm publication date of January 10, 2023, “according to industry executives” who spoke to the NYT. Everything else in their story recapitulates previous reporting. The book was originally hoped for in “late 2022.” Netflix reportedly postponed a documentary featuring Harry and his wife Meaghan, produced by the couple’s Archewell Productions and Netflix, originally said to stream in December, following the new season of Netflix’s The Crown. But Netflix continues to insist, “There’s never been any documentary […]