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” […]
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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, […]
Announcements: Hachette Cuts 11 From Sales Force; Abrams Acquires SelfMadeHero; and More
Hachette Book Group has eliminated 11 positions in its sales & marketing department. In a statement the company said the layoffs came about “after an extensive review of our overall sales and marketing structure to identify effective ways to meet the changing needs of our account base….This is an extremely difficult decision to make, but it was necessary to tighten our sales force in order to adapt to evolution in the marketplace.” Abrams has bought UK graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero and and will launch a US version of the company next spring with titles by Fernando Trueba and Javier Marisca, […]
Updates: An Extra National Book Awards Finalist; More on Amazon’s 47North
It turns out that Wednesday’s announcement of the National Book Awards was not entirely error-free, as in the early afternoon a sixth nominee in the Young People’s Literature category – CHIME by Fanny Billingsley, published by Dial – was added to the list. “We made a mistake, there was a miscommunication,” executive director of the National Book Foundation Harold Augebraum told the LA Times. “We could have taken one of the books away to keep it five, but we decided that it was better to add a sixth one as an exception, because they’re all good books.” Updating news from […]
Lonely Planet Founders Buy Canongate’s Stake in Text Publishing
Founders of Lonely Planet Maureen and Tony Wheeler have bought Canongate’s stake in Text Publishing for an undisclosed sum. Michael Heyward and Penny Hueston, who bought Text in tandem with Canongate in 2004 and created a joint venture whereby Text also published Canongate titles in Australia, will retain their share in the company and Heyward will stay on as publisher and managing director. Heyward added that Text and Canongate “will continue to work closely together to acquire books and authors.” “Our decision to sell our stake in Text was a strategic one that will enable us to focus more of our […]