Australian retailer Booktopia finally made its long-awaited announcement, that it is filing for voluntary bankruptcy. The stock continues to be suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange, and McGrathNicol Restructuring is “undertaking an urgent assessment of Booktopia’s business while options for its sale and/or recapitalisation are explored,” a release states. The first meeting with creditors will take place before July 15.
BNED Looks Forward to Normal Payables, Lower Interest Costs
After a completing complicated refinancing plan, Barnes & Noble Education released earnings for the fourth quarter and full year ended April 27, 2024. Results were in line with their preliminary report from May: For the year, sales were up 1.6 percent to $1.57 billion, owing to major growth in the First Day Complete business, and offset by the closing of several store locations. Net loss was $(62.5) million, compared to $(90.1) million the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA was $45.2 compared to a loss of $(8.1) million in 2023. The company said in a release that “due to vendors tightening payable […]
New Books Publishing July 2
This week’s fiction releases include new titles by Joy Williams, J. Courtney Sullivan, and Tehlor Kay Mejia. Cady Coleman and Maureen Callahan publish nonfiction works this week, while July’s children’s releases include books by Karen M. McManus, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Gordon Korman. Also publishing this week are new novels from Ruby Dixon, Francesca Segal, and Liz Moore, all excerpted in our Buzz Books 2024: Spring/Summer sampler. 30 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-july-2 7 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-july-2 17 children’s titles https://bookshop.org/lists/july-2024-children-s-releases From Buzz Books https://buzz.publishersmarketplace.com/ We consult a number […]
Obituary: Ismail Kadare
Albanian writer Ismail Kadare, 88, died on Monday, after being rushed to the hospital, reportedly experiencing cardiac arrest. In novels including The General of the Dead Army, he wrote about Albania’s history and angered the country’s communist government. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 15 times and won the Booker International Prize in 2005, the award’s first year, given for his body of work. Albanian President Bajram Begaj said in a statement, “Albania and Albanians lost their genius of letters, their spiritual emancipator, the Balkans (lost) the poet of its myths, Europe and the world (lost) one […]
People 7/1
Second Circuit Probes Internet Archive’s Arguments for Controlled Digital Lending
In a lengthy hearing, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York heard oral arguments in the Internet Archive’s appeal of a lower court finding that their copying and lending of digital copies of books (through their invented practice of Controlled Digital Lending) infringes copyright. In his ruling, District Court Judge John Koeltl found “no case or legal principle supports that notion. Every authority points the other direction.” In keeping with Judge Koeltl’s ruling, which was rooted in opinions from the Court of Appeals in such significant cases as Google Books, Hathi Trust, and ReDigi, the three-judge panel appeared […]