As some of us expected, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading has cleared the way for Amazon’s proposed acquisition of The Book Depository. The OFT said that according to the evidence it received, The Book Depository only accounted for “between two to four per cent of online retailing of hard-copy books,” and as such didn’t qualify as a “significant source of competitive rivalry to Amazon.” Further, the OFT added, “the evidence indicated that competition within Amazon Marketplace would continue to be strong post-merger, for a wide range of book titles.” As to whether the merger would reduce competition in “deep-range” […]
People, Etc.
Consultant and former Bowker ceo Michael Cairns has taken a full-time position at SharedBook after working with them to launch their AcademicPub product. Cairns is chief revenue officer for the company, and will continue to focus on the development of AcademicPub–an online platform that lets educators create fully-licensed custom coursepacks, pulling together licensable publisher content, personal materials from their own computers and information from the web through an online interface. Angus Killick is joining Macmillan Children’s in the new position of vp, associate publisher, reporting to president Jon Yaged. Killick will coordinate publishing programs across the group’s imprints, lead the children’s […]
In Countersuit, Kampmann and Midpoint Trade Claim Kump “Misappropriated Trade Secrets”
On October 17 Midpoint Trade Books ceo Eric Kampmann and Midpoint director and minority shareholder Christopher Bell filed their response to Midpoint co-founder Gail Kump’s lawsuit, in which she alleged breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and other corporation law violations. After categorically denying Kump’s claims, Kampmann and Bell add five counter-claims of their own, asking for a total of $5 million in damages on the grounds that Kump misappropriated trade secrets, breached her duties as an officer and director of Midpoint, and created “torturous interference with ongoing contractual relationships.” They assert that Kump’s employment by the National Book […]
eNews: HBG Licenses System to Create App Storefront
Book packager and publisher Round Table Companies is licensing Hachette’s digital content management system to create an app storefront that allows Round Table to sell their titles on the iPad. Hachette’s system provides app publishers features for direct consumer relationships that include push notifications, feedback generation, analytics tracking, and direct sales. HBG is hosting the content on their servers and licensing access to their digital platform, but spokesperson Sophie Cottrell says that “going forward, HBG will consider licensing the software” for installation on third-party servers. This is their first software-as-a-service agreement, and they are interested in licensing additional clients. The service […]
Books In the Making: NYT Reads Condoleeza Rice Memoir Early; SEAL Book Presents Alternate Account of Bin Laden Death; and More
The NYT got a copy of Condoleeza Rice‘s memoir NO HIGHER HONOR a week before its November 1 publication by Crown, revealing that she clashed “repeatedly” with vice president Dick Cheney and defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and “at one point even threatened to resign when she felt circumvented.” That confrontation occurred in November 2001 when she learned President George W. Bush had issued an order prepared by the White House counsel Alberto Gonzales authorizing military commissions without telling her: “If this happens again,” she told the president, “either Al Gonzales or I will have to resign.” NYT Former Seal Team […]
People: Algonquin Moves Into YA/Middle Grade Book Publishing
Algonquin Books will start publishing young adult and middle grade books by the end of 2012 and has hired Elise Howard, formerly svp and associate publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, to oversee the program. Howard plans to start the new list with up to a half dozen titles next year and build “gradually” from there. She will work out of Algonquin’s New York office, starting in mid-November. “Developing a brand-new young adult and middle-grade readers’ list is a rare opportunity,” Howard said in the announcement. “The really thrilling challenge is to do it within a program as esteemed as Algonquin’s, […]