There is an excellent ‘open letter to the publishing industry’ on standards for ebooks now that the big five publishers have applied the agency model for ebook distribution. “Dear Publishers, Now that you have your ‘agency’ contracts (such as they are) in place and are moving on, in your own heads anyway, to Ebook 2.0, can…
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Shortlist Announced
The shortlist for the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award was announced by The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Emer Costello, at The Mansion House, Dublin. There are eight books shortlisted from nominations by public libraries in Ireland, Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Russia, The Netherlands, South Africa, Brazil, the USA and Canada.…
Agency Model or Be Damned
I don’t how many times I started this piece today on the arrival of the iPad and the agency model. Frankly, by mid-morning, I gave up. There was just too many deals with Amazon to report by publishers, and too many comments like: ‘Oh, oh, it’s on-it’s off; our Amazon buy buttons are off –…
Confirmed: GE Capital Secure Term Loan For Borders Group US Survival
Just released on the newswires: ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 31, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Borders Group, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an amended and restated revolving credit agreement. The new, $700 million senior secured asset-based credit facility matures in March 2014 and replaces the company’s existing revolving credit agreement, which would…
Borders US Set To Make Fools’ Day Deadline
Borders Group US are facing D-day on April 1st. A substantial loan of $42.5m secured two years ago from Pershing Square Capital for the refurbishment of retail stores and an IT upgrade is due to be repaid on Thursday, this week. A number of reliable financial sources, including Bloomberg US, are reporting late Tuesday evening that a…
UK OFT Receive Complaints on Amazon Seller Agreement
Last week Amazon UK informed sellers using their Marketplace that they could no longer list book titles on other online retail sites, including the seller’s own site, for less than the listed Amazon retail price. The deadline for sellers to agree to this is Wednesday 31st March, and those sellers who do not agree will…
Adult Hardback Sales Slump 8.1% For January (AAP)
The Association of American Publishers (AAP)has today reported on book sales for the month of January 2010. Overall sales were down 0.7% compared to January 2009, but the most alarming figure is adult hardback, dropping 8.1%. You can find the report here. New York, NY, March 22, 2010—The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports for…
John Boyne Hosts Information Day on Publishing at IRC
Award winning Irish novelist John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, will join a group of assembled speakers from the Irish publishing community for an information day on publishing. Boyne will host the event in conjunction with the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin this Saturday, March 20th. He is the full press release from…