Romance author Christine DeMaio, who writes as CD Reiss, has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that the retail giant’s dominance in audiobook sales eliminates competition and leads to supracompetitive pricing for self-published authors. The suit is filed by class-action law firm Hagens Berman, which was the first to bring the ebook price fixing suit against publishers and Apple in 2011. (Since then, less successfully, the firm has filed suits against Amazon and the large trade publishers over the retailer’s ebook monopoly.) The filing states that Amazon, through the Audible ACX program, charges independent authors a fee […]
NYPL Young Lions Award
Wiley Sales Grow Due to AI Deal
Wiley announced fourth quarter and full year earnings for the period ended April 30, marking a turnaround for the company. For the fourth quarter, including held for sale or sold assets, sales were down 11 percent to $468 million and operating income fell 17 percent to $69 million. Excluding those assets at constant currency, adjusted sales were up 4 percent to $441 million and adjusted EBITDA gained 7 percent to $125 million. For the year, sales were down 7 percent to $1.873 billion with operating income down 6 percent to $52 million. Adjusted sales were $1.617 billion, down 1 percent, […]
B&N Reportedly Bids on Tattered Cover
Barnes & Noble is the top bidder to take over Tattered Cover, according to Business Den, citing a source “familiar with the process.” The store’s owners cancelled the auction that was set for Wednesday. Company spokesperson Steven Silvers said in a statement, “At this time the board, management and corporate counsel are all actively engaged in ongoing discussions and negotiations with the qualified bidders. We don’t know how long these will continue or when we’ll have more information.” He continued, “All parties are taking this process very seriously and discussions have been positive. We remain quite hopeful that Tattered Cover is […]
Bookselling: New Owners for Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara bookstore Chaucer’s Books, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, has been sold by owner Mahri Kerley, the Santa Barbara Independent reports. The new owners, Greg Feitt and Jen Lemberger, met and fell in love as booksellers at the store in mid-2000s. Feitt eventually became the store’s general manager and book buyer. The new owners tell the Independent that they aren’t planning big changes, and will still host events and book fairs. “Chaucer’s is a community institution, and we want it to continue as such and continue [Kerley’s] legacy,” Feitt said. “So, while we have ideas and […]
Tattered Cover Cancels Auction
Tattered Cover canceled today’s planned auction to determine a new owner “to allow more time to discuss with interested buyers,” the Denver Post reports. The auction may happen in the future, or “may not be needed,” store spokesperson Steven Silvers said. In May, Tattered Cover said that they were soliciting bids from potential buyers, and that they would hold the auction if there were multiple bidders. In bankruptcy court filings, they said they had executed signed NDAs from eight potential bidders and were hoping for more.