A NYT blog publishes a performance report from Bill Ackman to investors in Pershing Square. Even with the big run-up in Borders stock recently and the sweetheart deal in which Pershing got to reprice their underwater stock warrants to the bargain level of 65 cents a share in exchange for extending their $42.5 million loan, the hedge fund is still at a loss on their Borders stake. Ackman notes that the average cost of their position after the cheap warrants is still just under $7 a share. He writes, “while the economic environment and digital book readers continue to be […]
Another High-Profile Resignation at Granta, and More People News
This time it’s at Granta Publications and Portobello Books, where David Graham has resigned as managing director. Announced in a two-line statement, the company says “queries previously directed to David Graham should be directed to Granta publisher Sigrid Rausing.” Graham came over from Canongate in 2006. Also in the UK, Hannah Black is leaving Century to join Harper UK in August as a publisher at Harper Nonfiction, reporting to Carole Tonkinson, the Bookseller reports. At Sourcebooks, Rebecca Frazer has joined the company’s New York office an acquisitions editor for Jabberwocky. She has acquired and edited children’s books for HarperCollins, Simon […]
Shaman Drum Gives Up the Fight to Survive; Wisconsin Store to Close After 113 Years
Owner of Ann Arbor bookstore Shaman Drum Karl Pohrt will close the store at the end of June. “I feel like I’ve had this charmed life to sell books in Ann Arbor for nearly 30 years,” he tells the Ann Arbor News (which will also close soon.) “That’s a good run.” The store’s site says, “On the advice of my accountant and my business manager, I am closing Shaman Drum Bookshop June 30. Despite a first rate staff, a fiercely loyal core of customers, a very decent landlord and my own commitment to the community of arts and letters in […]
Harper Experiments with Promotional 2D Barcodes
Harper Children’s is testing a “viral mobile initiative” with 2D barcodes. Book browswers in a store take a picture of the codes with any smartphone and, in tandem with a free downloadable application, the code links to a web site optimized for mobile viewing. For the first book, Lauren Conrad’s LA Candy, the code connects to a video and author Q&A. Harper says the code for August’s paperback release of Freakonomics “will include exclusive content related to the book and to the fall publication of Superfreakonomics.” And Harper Teen’s new series The Amanda Project promises to “incorporate the codes to […]
Justice Department Asks Publishers for Information on Google
Two publishing executives confirm to the WSJ that they have received “a civil investigative demands” from the Justice Department as it requests more information as part of their evaluation of the pending Google Book Search settlement. An anonymous executive says, “They are looking at all aspects of the proposed settlement. It shouldn’t be overblown.” Attorney for the Authors Guild Michael Boni subsequently tells the NYT that CIDs have gone to the Guild, the AAP, Google, and a number of publishers. “They are asking for a lot of information,” Boni says. “It signals that they are serious about the antitrust implications […]
Arcade Files for Chapter 11 Protection
Jeannette Seaver filed for bankruptcy protection for Arcade Publishing last week, with assets of $4.5 million and liabilities of $6.3 million. The company owes Little, Brown almost $500,000 for a loan and distribution services. The filing, as quoted by Crain’s, says that “the challenges of a small, independent publisher were made especially difficult by the current economic climate. For the past several months since the death of the Debtor’s president, Richard Seaver [who died in January] the Debtor has struggled in an effort to reorganize and seek investors. The loss of Mr. Seaver coupled with the ongoing financial issues in […]