Amazon made a declaration of support for a lawsuit filed by the Washington state attorney general in Federal Court looking to overturn President Trump’s recent executive order limiting immigration from seven countries as unconstitutional. The first state to file suit, Washington is also seeking a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the order. Amazon indicated it was aware of 49 US-based employees who are from one of the countries targeted by the president’s order. In an email to employees, ceo Jeff Bezos noted, “We are working other legal options as well.” Bezos told staff, “This executive order is one we do not […]
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S&S Children’s Authors Protest Milo Deal, IDPF Dissidents Keep Trying
A group of over 160 children’s book authors and illustrators have signed on to a letter to Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy objecting to the house’s book deal with Milo Yiannopoulos. The effort began as a conversation among Erin Murphy Literary Agency clients under contract with Simon & Schuster and “quickly became a national dialogue across agencies and genres.” They write, in part: “Threshold has placed Simon & Schuster’s considerable reputation and weight behind one of the most prominent faces of the newly repackaged white supremacist/white nationalist movement and financially supported a man who routinely denigrates, verbally attacks, and directs dangerous internet doxxing and hate campaigns against […]
Harper Withdraws Crowley’s Book Following Plagiarism Revelations
In the wake of CNN’s article showing that Monica Crowley’s 2012 book What the (Bleep) Just Happened copied material from numerous sources, HarperCollins was “looking into the matter” and announced on Tuesday to the NYT. “The book, which has reached the end of its natural sales cycle, will no longer be offered for purchase until such time as the author has the opportunity to source and revise the material,” Harper said in a statement. (Published by their Broadside Books imprint, the print version has sold only a handful of copies over the last three years at outlets tracked by Nielsen Bookscan.) Crowley […]
Hachette Book Group’s New Year’s Letter
HBG USA ceo Michael Pietsch wrote to staff with new year’s greetings instead of a holiday year-end letter, noting highlights of 2016–led by the acquisition of the Perseus Books imprints, which bolstered their “primary strategic goal” of growing the company. Without the Perseus titles, core HBG sales “decreased somewhat from 2015, primarily from declines in ebook and paperback sales and the transition of Yen Press to a joint venture.” But Pietsch says that core profits grew “by around 25 percent,” due in part to “care with costs,” with Perseus adding to both sales and profits. Looking ahead, he promises “we will soon […]
CEO Holiday Greetings, from Simon & Schuster
In keeping with tradition, publishing ceos are thanking employees and celebrating the year’s accomplishments through year-end letters. The first publicly released letter is from Simon & Schuster chief executive Carolyn Reidy, noting “a tumultuous year in both the United States and around the world” while still observing that “it feels as if we are in a period of relative stability in the publishing marketplace.” Reidy confirms that their deal to acquire Adams Media closed “shortly before Thanksgiving” as scheduled and notes the new division will be integrated into company infrastructure and systems by January 31. In a review of the house’s top titles she leads with […]
BISG Looks Ahead to Restart
The Book Industry Study Group convened their annual members meeting in New York — and marked their 40th anniversary — after an admittedly “tough year” with enthusiastic anticipation for incoming executive director Brian O’Leary and a new strategic plan to execute. Treasurer and new board chair Maureen McMahon of Kaplan presented the budget and revealed some of the challenges the organization has faced, with a change to accrual accounting and problems with their membership database management leading to a significant net loss of roughly $240,000 (on expenditures of $1.304 million) in the previous fiscal year, now rebalanced in the unaudited […]