The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in an Illinois District Court on June 20 to block the proposed merger of Quad and LSC Communications, the last two major US based book printers standing after several years of consolidation in a contracting print industry. The merger, says the filing, “threatens to increase prices, reduce quality, and limit availability of printed material that millions of Americans rely on to receive and disseminate information and ideas,” echoing concerns raised by many in publishing since the announcement of the planned merger in October. The Justice Department argues that the loss of the […]
How Publishing Works
Industry Considers POD as Offset Capacity Shrinks
The Book Industry Study Group held a two-hour panel June 6 on “The Potential for On-Demand Printing,” moderated by Ken Fultz, recently retired from his role as general manager at Ohio-based Bookmasters. Contributing were Andrea Fleck-Nisbet (Ingram Content Group), Dane Neller (On Demand Books), Michelle Weir (Hewlett Packard), and Rich Dzurus (Canon). Approximately 30 printing, publishing, and paper professionals were in the audience. The panel was an enthusiastic sales pitch for POD, but one worth listening to. As one might expect, much of the conversation turned on the shortage in offset printing capacity that has been felt across the industry, […]
Market Expected to Remain Tight for Printing and Paper
The opening session of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG)’s annual meeting in New York on Friday addressed one of last year’s knottiest issues: Shortages of both book printing paper and book manufacturing capacity. While last year brought a “perfect storm” as Janet McCarthy Grimm, vp of Lindenmeyr Book Paper, said, the “strains on our system” that limit production of book paper are expected to continue. While “paper is much more readily available than it was at the end of last year” that’s consistent with seasonal changes in the paper business. Grimm warned, “We all need to be watching for […]
What Publishers’ “Morality Clauses” Actually Say, and How Agents Are Reacting
The growing awareness and apparent use of morality clauses in major publisher contracts has been a hot button issue this year — mistakenly treated as if this was a brand new practice. Most of that reporting and discussion has taken place in a partial void, absent an airing of what the actual contractual clauses say. It’s one thing to talk about the idea of morality clauses, but it’s far more important to know what standards and conditions such clauses try to impose, and what remedies they prescribe. So for several months we talked to agents, publishers, and attorneys to uncover […]
People, Etc.
At Hachette Book Group, Todd McGarity has been promoted to the new, expanded role of vp, business development. He will now “lead HBG’s growth through acquisition efforts,” while continuing to run the client services (distribution) business. Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul, 85, died on August 11 at his home in London. Born in Trinidad to emigrants from India, he authored numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including A House for Mr. Biswas and In A Free State, which won the Booker in 1971. When he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001, the Swedish Academy described him as “a […]
Junot Diaz Accused of Misconduct, and Responds, “I Take Responsibility for My Past”
Junot Diaz was accused of inappropriate behavior by author Zinzi Clemmons on Friday, writing on Twitter: “As a grad student, I invited Junot Diaz to speak to a workshop on issues of representation in literature. I was an unknown wide-eyed 26 yo, and he used it as an opportunity to corner and forcibly kiss me. I’m far from the only one he’s done this 2, I refuse to be silent anymore.” Clemmons posted online after questioning Diaz from the audience at a Q&A session at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, where both were speaking. “This was my question [she wrote later […]