European E-book Probe Over

The European Commission has completed its investigation into the e-book pricing policies of five publishers and Apple, reaching deals with Apple and S&S, Hachette, Harper, and Macmillan. Settlement terms are similar to those agreed to by three publishers in the DoJ lawsuit in the U.S. A deal with Penguin is expected soon.

Hachette Gets Greener

Hachette said last week that it is ahead of pace in two key areas, but behind in a third. HBG has already surpassed its target for reducing total greenhouse gas emissions, as well as for the use of Forest Stewardship Council paper, but is behind its goal in increasing the use of recycled paper.

HC, RAN Clash

A new advisory from the Rainforest Action Network that some of HarperCollins’s children’s books contain fiber from vulnerable rainforests brought an angry reply from the publisher, who challenged RAN to provide HC with the test results. RAN in turn wants HC to provide the network more information about its paper sourcing.

October Bookstore Sales Up

After falling 8% in September, bookstore sales bounced back in October with sales up 4.5%, to $914 million, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. For the first 10 months of 2012, bookstore sales were down 1.3%, to $12.55 billion.

Graham Named Scribner Publisher

Nan Graham has been named senior v-p and publisher of Scribner, reporting to Susan Moldow, who was formerly publisher, but became president of the Scribner Publishing Group when it was formed in October.

B&T Teams With Findaway

Baker & Taylor this week announced a partnership with Findaway World (creators of Playaway) to launch Acoustik—a new mobile platform to enable consumers to buy and download digital audiobooks on their mobile devices. Acoustik, a free app that works on both Apple and Android systems, is available from selected retailers, and will soon be coming to libraries.

B&N Closes Tikatok, More Stores

Barnes & Noble has closed its Tikatok operation. Acquired in 2009 for $2.3 million, Tikatok was an online platform that allowed parents and children to write, illustrate, and publish their own books.

Separately, the company said it plans to close about 15 stores between now and the end of its fiscal year in April.

NYT in E-book Startups

The New York Times has launched two digital publishing programs—iNew York Times short e-books copublished with the digital startup Byliner, and TimesFiles with Vook.