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Book Wars: Amazon Caves Into MacMillan Pricing Demands

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

The Book Wars began over Christmas when Wal-Mart and Amazon.com got into a pricing war over the sale of hardcover bestsellers. But that was nothing compared to what's coming. With the launch of Apple's iPad and Steve Jobs' announcement that he's going to sell ebooks for around $15.00 a book (Amazon.com sells them for around $9.99 or less), the Books Wars just went into a very hot phase.

This particular battle started when MacMillan asked Amazon.com to raise the price of all its ebooks for the Kindle from $9.99 to $15.00. Amazon.com refused and removed the buy button from all MacMillan titles. The New York Times reports:

Motoko Rich, my colleague, spoke with a person who had a direct conversation with a person at Macmillan familiar with the conversations with Amazon. Macmillan offered Amazon the opportunity to buy Kindle editions on the same "agency" model as it will sell e-books to Apple for the iPad. Under this model, the publisher sets the consumer book price and takes 70 percent of each sale, leaving 30 percent to the retailer. Macmillan said Amazon could continue to buy e-books under its current wholesale model, paying the publisher 50 percent of the hardcover list price while pricing the e-book at any level Amazon chooses, but that Macmillan would delay those e-book editions by seven months after hardcover release. Amazon's removal of Macmillan titles on Friday appears to be a direct reaction to that.

Later, Amazon.com announced that it was knuckling under to MacMillan, but that it was very unhappy about the forced price increase to its customers. Here's Amazon.com's statement:

Dear Customers:

Macmillan, one of the "big six" publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!

Thank you for being a customer.

This is just one battle in what is going to be a long war over the price of ebooks.

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Borders Lays Off 164 Employees

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Publisher's Weekly reports that Borders has laid off another 164 people in its distribution centers and its corporate headquarters.

In the newest round of cuts, 124 corporate jobs were eliminated at Borders' Ann Arbor headquarters and other offices with 40 coming at its warehouses and distribution centers. The downsizing is a response to poor holiday sales and the closing of 183 outlets in the Walden specialty group. A majority of the corporate cuts came in the company's finance and information technology divisions. The company said in an e-mail to employees that it is evaluating the staffing needs of its stores and changes could come in a few weeks. Employee blogs are filled with speculation that store cuts are imminent.

PW says that the company is also planning more cuts to the workforce at its stores. Last year the company laid off 700 store employees.

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Catcher in the Rye Author J.D. Salinger Dead at 91

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST

J.D. Salinger has died at the age of 91. The reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye was a controversial figure in his later years, refusing all interviews and claiming that he hasn't written a book since 1965. He died at his home, according to his literary agent. CNN reports:

The author died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, according to a family statement that his literary agent, Phyllis Westberg, provided Thursday. "Despite having broken his hip in May, his health had been excellent until a rather sudden decline after the new year," the statement said. "He was not in any pain before or at the time of his death."

Salinger has long been known for his reclusiveness, and "in keeping with his life long, uncompromising desire to protect and defend his privacy there will be no service," the statement said. "The family asks that people's respect for him, his work, and his privacy be extended to them, individually and collectively, during this time." Though he wrote more than 30 short stories and a handful of novellas -- many published in The New Yorker and collected in works such as "Nine Stories" and "Seymour: An Introduction" -- Salinger's fame rests on "Catcher," his only novel.

The book is narrated by a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield, who is expelled from a private school, Pencey Prep, in Pennsylvania, and spends the next three days wandering around New York. Caulfield is mistrustful of authority, railing against corrupt adults and "phonies," and plans to decamp for the west.

There are more than 60 million copies of his works in print.

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Harvard Business Review Press Inks Deal With Kindle

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:25:00 EST

The Harvard Business Review Press has teamed up with Amazon.com to make chapters from its books available on the Kindle. The publishers will start by offering chapters from ten of its books. The chapters offered will be sold under the name Harvard Business Review Short Cuts. Publisher's Weekly reports:

"We've chosen to make HBR Short Cuts available in the Kindle Store so that our readers can easily stay up to date on the latest business books we publish, as well as reference their previous favorites," said Joshua D. Macht, group publisher, Harvard Business Review Group. "Kindle makes the possibility of purchasing, downloading and reading a select and relevant chapter en route to a business meeting or while on a business trip a reality." HBP has priced the chapters at $3.95 and Amazon is selling them for $3.16.

The chapters will be exclusive to the Kindle Store for three months. The first round of topics will include strategy, leadership, innovation and management.

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Ursula Le Guin to File Objection to Google Book Settlement

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

Bestselling fantasy author Ursula Le Guin will submit an objection to the Google Book Settlement, along with 365 other writers. Ms. Le Guin is vehemently opposed to the settlement and has been an outspoken critic of the agreement which she says takes away authors' rights.

Le Guin's petition asks Judge Denny Chin to exempt the United States from the revised legal settlement reached between Google and US authors and publishers over the Internet giant's vast digital book-scanning project. Chin is scheduled to hold a hearing on the revised agreement on February 18.

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In her petition, which is available on her website, ursulakleguin.com, Le Guin said the settlement was negotiated by the Authors Guild "without consultation with any other group of authors or American authors as a whole." "The Guild cannot and does not speak for all American writers," she said. "Its settlement cannot be seen as reflecting the will or interest of any group but the Guild." She said the National Writers Union, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America were among those opposed to the settlement.

"We ask that the United States also be exempted from the settlement," she said. "We ask that the principle of copyright, which is directly threatened by the settlement, be honored and upheld in the United States." "We urge our government and our courts to allow no corporation to circumvent copyright law or dictate the terms of that control," Le Guin said.

Several countries have already opted out of the settlement. Allowing the U.S. to be exempted from the settlement will scuttle the settlement once and for all.

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Concerns Grow Over Borders Financial Stability

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Publisher's Weekly reports that concerns are growing over the financial stability of Borders Books. Financial news service Debtwire reports that a group of small publishers are frustrated with Borders' slow payments, and are considering legal action.

In response, a Borders spokesperson said, "Borders Group has continued to pay its vendors and is not aware of any material disputes related to its December 2009 payments." Interviews with a number of publishers, both large and small, by PW found Borders to be current with its payments, though one small publisher stopped doing business with the chain at the end of 2008 because of its fragile financial condition. And while one of the large publishers interviewed by PW said Borders was current "on our terms," he nonetheless said the poor holiday performance and the continuing financial struggles of the chain were "very worrying."

The recession has been just brutal on bookstores. The holiday season was a real disappointment for most book retailers, which is leading to questions of financial stability. In any event, Borders is denying there is a problem paying vendors.

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HarperCollins to Sell Enhanced Ebooks for New Apple Tablet

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST

The Wall Street Journal reports that HarperCollins has been in talks with Apple to provide enhanced ebook content for the hotly anticipated Apple tablet computer. Apple won't comment, but HarperCollins says that the ebooks will retail for more than the $9.99 that many ebooks retail for on Amazon.com's Kindle. The enhanced books will feature author interviews and other content.

Brian Murray, the chief executive of HarperCollins, said in December that e-books enhanced with video, author interviews and social-networking applications could command higher retail prices for publishers than current e-books. Many of the country's largest publishing houses are worried about the sale of new bestsellers for only $9.99 in the e-book format. New releases of enhanced e-books could sell for $14.99 to $19.99, a person familiar with the situation said. HarperCollins is a unit of News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal.

The HarperCollins negotiations with Apple represent a direct challenge to Amazon, which dominates the fast-growing e-book market but which could face significant competition from an Apple tablet.

HarperCollins is one of several major publishing houses that are holding back e-book versions of some new hardcover best sellers. The HarperCollins account of the 2008 presidential election, "Game Change," by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, was released in hardcover Jan. 11 but the e-book edition doesn't go on sale until Feb. 23. Enhanced e-books likely would be available for sale simultaneously with the hardcovers.

The Kindle doesn't have color or video capability, and the Apple tablet is widely seen as a major Kindle competitor. It's not clear where the books will be sold, but it makes sense that they would be sold at the iTunes store. The tablet, which Apple still hasn't even officially confirmed the existence of, will debut January 27.

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Borders Throwing Away Books From Closed Waldenbooks

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Employees of Borders reveal that the company is going to throw away thousands of books instead of donating them to libraries or shelters. The books will be trashed when more Waldenbooks stores are closed.

Last month, corporate parent Borders announced they will soon be closing 200 Waldenbooks book stores in communities nationwide. Current Waldenbooks employees have come forward to alert the public that the company plans to dispose of many unsold books in the cheapest, easiest, least responsible way possible - by trashing them.

"This is going to be happening in all the Waldenbooks stores at the end of their liquidation sales to anything left on the shelves," said Heather L., a Waldenbooks employee. "And it gives us all stomach aches to think about."

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Former Waldenbooks employees say they have previously witnessed and participated in the destruction of unsold books. "I used to work at a Waldenbooks and we would trash books, tons of books, like every two weeks," said Brooke Bennett, a former employee from Little Rock, AR. "It just killed me." Known in the bookselling industry as "dumpstering," this method of book disposal is standard practice not only at Borders-owned stores, but at many other chain book stores and mass retailers.

This is just appalling. There are so many organizations that would be happy to take the books, and many of them would pick them up.

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Robert B. Parker Dead at 77

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST

Robert B. Parker, the bestselling author of the Spenser detective novels has died suddenly at his home of a heart attack. He was 77 years old and was found at his desk, working on a new book. The New York Times reports:

Robert B. Parker, the best-selling mystery writer who created Spenser, a tough, glib, Boston private detective who was the hero of nearly 40 novels, died on Monday at home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 77.

The cause was a heart attack, said his agent of 37 years, Helen Brann. She said Mr. Parker had been thought to be in splendid health, and that he died at his desk, working on a book. He wrote every single day, she said.

We send our condolences to his family and friends during this sad time.

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Avon Buys Top Authors' Contracts From Dorchester

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:40:00 EST

Dorchester has sold the frontlist and backlist of a number of its top authors to Avon. Dearauthor quotes an Avon statment about the purchase:

HarperCollins has acquired several frontlist and backlist titles from Dorchester publishing and has also extended its distribution partnership. Authors include titles from Victoria Alexander, Nina Bangs, Christine Feehan, Sandra Hill, Marjorie M. Liu, Katie MacAlister, Lynsay Sands and CL Wilson. We are currently scheduling the Avon release of these books, and will sell, market and publish all acquired titles by these authors on a go-forward basis. We look forward to working with these talented authors to futher grow their brand recognition.

Marjorie Liu blogged about the surprise sale of her contract:

I am now writing for Avon, who will publish the entire Dirk & Steele series--the nine titles that have already been released, and two new books that are upcoming. I admit: I am very excited by this. When I first confirmed the news on Twitter, I think some folks were understandably confused by what it all means, and whether it's a good thing or not...but from my point of view, it's great. This is a new adventure and a fantastic opportunity, and I'm looking forward, very much, to writing my next two books with Avon.

Dirk & Steele has moved to a good home, and as an author who cares deeply about her books, that's a gift.

There have been rumors about Dorchester having financial troubles for some time and the closing of the Shomi line was not a good sign. We are glad that these authors (all of whom we read regularly) are landing at Avon. Does this mean we can read Marjorie's books on our Kindle soon? We certainly hope so.

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Random House Children's Screen Entertainment to Raise $100 Million

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:25:00 EST

Nikki Finke reports that Random House Children's Books is moving forward to obtain funding for its new media venture, Random House Children's Screen Entertainment (RHCSE), which will produce movies and other projects based on Random House Children's Books.

This March, UK-based Kommixx Entertainment, the film and television production company backed by Swiss venture fund EAM Private Capital, intends to go out into the market for RHCSE in March. It may yet approach an existing film and television financier such as Aramid Capital to help it raise the money. The $100M will be used to develop cartoons and live-action films and television series based on RHCB properties, as well as video games and toys. The deal includes authors like Jacqueline Wilson, whose Tracy Beaker character is already a hit for the BBC, The Golden Compass author Philip Pullman; and Terry Pratchett, whose Discworld novels are enormously popular with UK readers. Children's illustrators on Random House's books include Quentin Blake, Shirley Hughes and John Burningham.

Random House Children's Screen Entertainment is a full-service production house. It is now looking to raise $100 million in funding to move forward with its programming plans. So long as the capital markets like the idea, it shouldn't be a problem. Why wait around to see if a studio will film one of your books when you can just raise the money and do it yourself?

Posted in Movies

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