Readerlink’s deal to acquire “the business and substantially all the assets” of Baker & Taylor — due to close by Friday, September 26 — has been terminated instead. Readerlink indicated there is no formal statement about the termination. Baker & Taylor’s open invoices with publishers were to remain with the current owners, and publishers were expressing concern about getting paid. Earlier this year, several librarians reported shipping delays from B&T and books being backordered...| Publishers Lunch
Lawyer Robert Barnett, 79, died on September 26 in Washington, D.C. Barnett represented many politicians and other high-profile authors for book deals, including James Patterson, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Bob Woodward, and George W. Bush. He also consulted on political campaigns, including for Bill Clinton in 1992. “Bob was the consummate counselor to presidents, ceos, royalty, and celebrities, and a legend at our firm, but anyone who knew him also recognized him as a kind, ...| Publishers Lunch
Welcome back to our monthly column about buzzy galleys. Awards season is taking shape, with no clear consensus favorite. The Booker named its shortlist, and the National Book Awards its longlists. The Kirkus Prize will be awarded on October 8. Book critic and founder of Alderbrink, a new magazine devoted to fine press books, Adam Morgan recommended Anna North’s Bog Queen (Bloomsbury, 10/14), which he called “really tense and atmospheric with a strong sense of place.” He writes, “It fe...| Publishers Lunch
U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup granted preliminary approval for the $1.5 billion copyright infringement settlement between Anthropic and the class of author plaintiffs. The plaintiffs had filed additional documents on Tuesday answering the judge’s 34 questions and explaining the claims process. The documents also revealed that the final works list included 482,460 titles. Bloomberg reports that Alsup called the settlement “fair” and said the plaintiffs will need “excellent”...| Publishers Lunch
Newly-formed publishing company Civica Media, funded by private equity firm BlackBern Partners, has acquired hybrid publishers Greenleaf Book Group and Amplify Publishing Group. Civica writes in a release that they are pursuing “acquisitions and partnerships that will add scale and capabilities in traditional, niche, and hybrid publishing.” “Greenleaf and Amplify are two of the strongest independent publishing brands in the market today,” said Civica Media ceo Laura Albero. “They e...| Publishers Lunch
On July 7, Scholastic will publish the sixth and final graphic novel in Alice Oseman‘s Heartstopper series, in hardcover and paperback. On July 2 it will be released in the UK and Ireland by Hodder Children’s Books, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. According to a release, in the book, “everyone in school knows Nick and Charlie. Everyone knows they’re going to be together forever. But Charlie’s busy with his bid to become head boy. And while Nick is preparing to leave for col...| Publishers Lunch
In keeping with the court’s deadlines, plaintiffs’ counsel and Anthropic filed numerous additional materials on Tuesday. The attachments here show the proposed Claim Form and the proposed Long-Form Notice that will be sent to potential claimants explaining the settlement. Additionally, the attorneys filed their answers to Judge William Alsup’s 34 additional questions — many of which were already answered by the proposed plan of allocation filed on Monday. In those answers, we learn th...| Publishers Lunch
Bluestockings Cooperative, the feminist organization that includes Bluestockings Bookstore in Manhattan, announced it will close at the end of 2025. The bookstore is shuttered, but they will continue to fulfill orders through December. They cite “many setbacks” over the last two years, including “$12,000 a month in rent, thousands in utilities,” and disputes with the neighbors. They write on their website, “This closure was our absolute last resort. On top of our crew’s ongoing st...| Publishers Lunch
The widower of Strand bookstore owner Nancy Bass Wyden’s personal assistant is suing his former employer, alleging that harassment from her children drove the assistant to take his own life. Brandon O’Brien was Bass Wyden’s personal assistant, employed by her company Bass Real Estate LLC, from June 2022 to September 2024. According to the suit, O’Brien was often tasked with taking care of the children, including driving them to and from school. The filing states that during one drive,...| Publishers Lunch
This week’s fiction releases include new novels by Patricia Lockwood, Ken Follett, Kiran Desai, and Ian McEwan, while new nonfiction includes work from Kamala Harris, Jen Hatmaker, Priscilla Presley, and Steven Pinker. 21 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-september-23 14 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-september-23 Also publishing this week are new titles by Jane Hamilton, A. Rushby, and Corinne Low...| Publishers Lunch
Some interesting data has surfaced recently providing more nuance about the true scope of backlist sales — from both the antitrust trial and NPD Bookscan — that’s worthy of gathering in one place. During the pandemic, Bookscan data showed a marked acceleration of backlist sales, from roughly 62 or 63 percent of print units in 2019 up to 70 percent of print units so far this year, with a trendline that looks like it never changes direction. That has been attributed to a number of pandemi...| Publishers Lunch
Anthropic has settled the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a class of authors for at least $1.5 billion, plus interest. The proposed settlement, once approved by the court, will be split among the rightsholders of all of the books included in the class after administration and lawyers’ fees and expenses, and will pay out in four installments, with the full settlement amount being paid by Anthropic over two years. Anthropic is paying $3,000 for each infringed work with a registered ...| Publishers Lunch
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