The Little Group, which owns wholesaler Gardners, has purchased Baker & Taylor UK from ceo Amandeep Kochar, The Bookseller reports. A private investment group led by Kochar bought what remained of B&T last fall. B&T UK will continue operating with its own name, and no staff changes are planned. Executive chairman Gareth Powell and managing director Annette Burgess will remain on the board. “We are pleased to welcome Baker & Taylor UK to the group, complementing our offer to the UK and international book markets, and we look forward to building on this to provide even better services in the […]
Distribution: Microcosm and Consortium
Microcosm Publishing & Distribution will be the exclusive worldwide distributor of comics publisher Birdcage Bottom Books and and the book publishing program of Don Giovanni Records. Starting May 28 for the fall 2022 season, Consortium Book Sales & Distribution will distribute Swiss book and game publisher Helvetiq, children’s publisher River Horse Publishing, and multicultural comics and speculative fiction publisher Rosarium Publishing.
AAP Sales Show First Decline In March, As Hardcovers Fall After Big Gains A Year Ago
After showing publisher revenue gains in January and February — in contrast to unit declines in customer sell-through as tracked by NPD Bookscan — the AAP’s March 2022 data from StatShot reporting publishers reflected the first decline of the year: Trade sales registered $650.4 million, compared to $691.6 million last year, down 6 percent. That said, however, the comp was extraordinarily high. A year ago, AAP March sales were up a whopping 35 percent. Adult books decreased (8.9) percent to $417.6 million. Hardcover sales were down (22.2) percent to $122.8 million, while trade paperback sales gained 4.7 percent to $150.4 […]
People 5/27
Anne Meadows joins Picador as editorial director. She has been editorial director at Granta.
ABFE Condemns Efforts to Rule Two Books Obscene in VA
American Booksellers for Free Expression, a part of the American Booksellers Association, issued a statement condemning the preliminary opinion of a Virginia judge that Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas could be “obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors.” Two local politicians requested a restraining order against Barnes & Noble and Virginia Beach schools for having the book available to purchase or borrow. “The Virginia judge’s opinion is troubling in that the order could threaten the First Amendment right of a bookseller to sell a book, and that it does so […]
Obituary: Lawrence David
Author and former Random House Children’s editor Lawrence David died on May 7. He was the author of the novels Family Values and Need, plus 18 picture books and the middle grade series Horace Splattly.