Canadian distributor HB Fenn confirmed its February 3 bankruptcy announcement in a statement of affairs filed with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. In it Fenn lists $25 million (CA) in liabilities against $14.8 million in assets. Fenn owes $21.8 million to unsecured creditors, with Macmillan the largest by far (owed $10 million, with an additional $600,000 owed to its UK arm.) Other notable unsecured creditors, according to Quill & Quire, include four H.B. Fenn-affiliated companies comprising Fenn Publishing, Fenn Technologies, and two numbered corporations bearing H.B. Fenn’s Bolton address who together are owed $4.1 million, HarperCollins ($3.3 million, […]
News
Briefs: O’Hagan To Ghostwrite Assange Memoir; British Bookshops Releases Creditor List; and More
Scottish literary novelist Andrew O’Hagan is reportedly ghost-writing Julian Assange‘s memoir, which will be published in April.The Guardian British Bookshops and Stationers owes £6.3m to its unsecured creditors on £2.2m in assets, according to a company filing. Hachette’s Bookpoint and Littlehampton Book Services distribution companies are owed £440,053 and £644,747 respectively, while Random House’s distribution company The Book Service is owed £443,317 and both Macmillan Distribution and HarperCollins are due around £500,000.The Bookseller Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, NY will close at the end of March after more than 35 years in business.The Ithaca Journal Sourcebooks’ Fiske College Guide is […]
When Will Borders File For Bankruptcy? As Early As Today, Or Later This Week
The WSJ reported Friday afternoon that Borders “could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as Monday or Tuesday,” but also cautioned “the filing could be delayed a few days.” Whenever the bankruptcy filing takes place, it will trigger the imminent liquidation and closure on a significant portion of their store base–now predicted to cover 200 of the company’s superstores (with an option to close 50 more) and all of its smaller mall-based outlets, among other restructuring efforts. If it comes before the end of this month, vendors who received checks at the end of November may have to […]
Briefs: Amazon to Close Distribution Center; E-Book Bundling; New Indies In Old Chain Locations; and More
Amazon announced it will close its distribution center in Irving, TX on April 12 and scuttle plans to hire 1,000 more people for the facility, which opened in 2006. The move came in response to an ongoing tax dispute with the State of Texas, which seeks to collect $269 million in revenue from the retailer. “Despite much hard work and the support of other Texas officials, we’ve been unable to come to a resolution with the Texas comptroller’s office,” VP operations Dave Clark said in a letter to employees obtained by the Dallas Morning News. “Closing this fulfillment [distribution] center […]
Updates: More on Bolano Serialization and USAT Bestseller Lists
Yesterday’s Lunch dispatch misstated the nature of The Paris Review’s excerpting of Roberto Bolano’s novel THE THIRD REICH, which FSG will publish near the end of the year. The magazine is, in fact, serializing the book over four consecutive issues, with the final installment to be released in the first week of December. This is the first time in forty years that The Paris Review has serialized a novel. Editor Lorin Stein tells us the full novel will be published by FSG in mid-December, but the publisher’s fall catalog currently lists a November publication date, and director of publicity Jeff […]
Briefs: New Eugenides Novel; Excerpts of New Bolano and Gov. Patrick Books; and More
Jeffrey Eugenides‘ first novel in nine years (and his first since the Pulitzer Prize winner MIDDLESEX) will be published by FSG in October. Catalog copy describes THE MARRIAGE PLOT as “a brilliant, funny, and heartbreaking novel about the glories and vicissitudes of young love”, with the 576-page novel priced as a $28 hardcover. FSG will also publish Roberto Bolano‘s previously undiscovered manuscript THE THIRD REICH in November, with an excerpt running in the spring issue of The Paris Review – the first time the magazine has excerpted a novel in nearly 40 years.WSJ In his forthcoming memoir, Massachusetts Governor Deval […]