Lawsuits Hurt S&S Profits

February 15, 2013

Sales Up at S&S, But Profits Dip Simon & Schuster finished 2012 with a bump in sales to $790 million from $787 million in 2011, but operating income dipped to $80 million from $83 million due in part to costs associated with settling three e-book price fixing cases brought by the Department of Justice, 49 states plus the consumer class action. more » DoJ Clears Random House, Penguin Merger The merger of Random House and Penguin came one step closer to completion Thursday when the U.S. Department of Justice gave its approval to the deal, without asking for any conditions. The proposed merger still must be approved by antitrust authorities in several other areas, including Europe and Canada. more » TOC 2013: Digital First Sale and its Discontents Already a hot topic at the Tools of Change conference, the issue of digital First Sale rights, or the ability to resell "used" e-books and other digital content, received a thorough examination by Bill Rosenblatt, president of digital consulting firm Giant Steps Media, in a presentation called "You Bought It, But do You Own It?" more » TOC 2013: Teicher Says State of Indie Bookselling is Strong American Bookseller Association CEO Oren Teicher used a Thursday morning Tools of Change session to offer a sort of State-of-the-Union for the independent bookselling trade—and, he told attendees, the state of the indie union is, counter to the prevailing wisdom, strong. more » Publishers Blast New Open Access Bill, FASTR Once again, Congress has introduced a bill that would mandate public access to publicly-funded federal research, ramping up the the tension between publishers and the research community. more » Today's Job Zondervan is seeking an Editorial Director, Zonderkidz. Maybe it's you! For more about this and other jobs, visit PW JobZone. To post a new job, click here. Could This Be the Year for Online Sales Tax? With the start of the new Congress, a bipartisan coalition showed the love to brick-and-mortar retailers on Valentine's Day with the reintroduction of a modified e-sales tax fairness law, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. The new act encourages online startups by raising the limit for online retailers to collect sales tax to $1 million. more » » Murphy Sells The Learned Owl Book Shop Liz Murphy, the owner of the Learned Owl Bookshop, a fixture in downtown Hudson, Ohio for the past 30 years, has sold the bookstore to Kate Schlademan, 37, the store's manager. The two signed the papers Friday morning transferring ownership from Murphy to Schlademan, effective March 15. more » » Davis Gets Atria Imprint Dawn Davis, who had been publisher of HarperCollins's Amistad Press imprint, will join the Atria Publishing Group as v-p and publisher of a new, yet-to-be-named imprint. She will start April 1 and report to Judith Curr, Atria Group president and publisher. more » » JIBF Brings Crowds, Talk of Israel's Retail Discount Wars In various talks at the Jersualem Book Fair, which closed on Wednesday, a number of challenges were raised, as well as concerns about the future. On the Sunday morning of the fair, a discussion about the growth of electronic readers demonstrated that the U.S. and U.K. are far ahead of Israel in the digital market. more » » Dreamscape Acquires Nutmeg Media Audiobook publisher Dreamscape has acquired Nutmeg Media a book to video firm, and will immediately begin sales, marketing, and distribution of the entire Nutmeg catalog of 107 book-based children's video titles. more » » Job Moves: February 15, 2013 Marcia Burch is leaving Touchstone as v-p, director of publicity. She can be reached at Mburch586@gmail.com. At Harlequin, the following moves have been made: Valerie Gray will retire at the end of March after 13 years with the company. Tara Parsons is now executive editor, Harlequin MIRA. Lenore Waldrip is now assistant editor/editorial assistant. Nicole Brebner is now senior editor. Michelle Venditti is now assistant editor/editorial assistant. Emily Martin is now director of overseas publishing. Susan Swinwood has been promoted to executive editor, Harlequin HQN and Harlequin LUNA. Margo Lipschultz is now senior edtior, Harlequin HQN and Harlequin LUNA. more » » THE ROUNDUP Obama: 'Don't Forget to Be Awesome': Obama had some words of advice for John Green. Hatchet Job of the Year Award: Camilla Long wins for her takedown of Rachel Cusk's Aftermath. Amazon Used Neo-Nazi Guards?: Amazon is at the center of a deepening scandal in Germany as the online shopping giant faced claims that it employed security guards with neo-Nazi connections to intimidate its foreign workers. Why Ready Access is So Important: Guardian: The newest tool in social engagement? Reading – so think Gutenberg, not Zuckerberg. Harvard Press Celebrates Centennial: Harvard got into the book-publishing business in the 1640s. VIEW ALL » Authors on the Air Authors on the Air February 15, 2013: Julia Rothman, Gina Holmes Julia Rothman, author of The Where, the Why, and the How: 75 Artists Illustrate Wondrous Mysteries of Science (Chronicle Books, 978-1-4521-0822-3), will be on Studio 360 on February 16th. Gina Holmes, author of Wings of Glass (Tyndale House, 978-1414366418) will be interviewed on The Hour of Joy (Fox 21/27) to be aired on February 17th at 11 AM. more » » BLOGS PWxyz Blog Gabe Habash ’2666′ in Pie Chart Form What's in the center of our '2666' pie? Lemon. more » Beyond Her Book Barbara Vey I’m Fine with Guys Wearing Kilts It's no secret that I cannot resist a book with a kilt on the cover. more » ShelfTalker Elizabeth Bluemle Labors of Love Two unconventional and worthwhile ways to celebrate Valentine's Day. more » Genreville Rose Fox Con or Bust Auction Is Open Con or Bust will help send fans of color to SF/F conventions. more » PICTURE OF THE DAY Pritzker Launches First Book On February 12, The Pritzker Military Library in Chicago launched the first book under its Master Wings Publishing imprint, Taps on the Walls: Poems from the Hanoi Hilton by John Borling, Major General, USAF, Ret. The event was 40 years to the day after Borling's release after 6 ½ years as a Vietnam POW. The Library hosted a panel discussion about the American POW experience during three major conflicts that will air on Chicago's PBS affiliate, WTTW TV . Panel participants included l-r, moderator John Barr, Donald Casey, retired Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum, and Borling.	Of Note Podcast: Publishing Looks into the Future At the Tools of Change conference for 2013, to paraphrase William Gibson, the future is already here – and it was pretty evenly distributed among the many panels and workshops. Listen here. more » Longfellow Reopens for Valentine's Day Benefit Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine, which has been closed since it suffered severe water damage when a frozen water line burst on Saturday, reopened last evening for a Valentine's Day benefit for Pussy Riot, according to bookseller Jack Marie. more »

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