PW: News Shorts

eMatter 1st-Qtr. Sales: $63, 000
In its 10-Q filing with the SEC for the first quarter ended April 30, 2000, Fatbrain.com reported that revenues from its eMatter operation totaled $63,000, compared to no revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2000. The unit had a gross profit of $31,000 and an operating loss of $4.5 million. eMatter will form the core of the new MightyWords subsidiary, which received $36 million in capital investment earlier this year (News, June 12). In its filing, Fatbrain said future revenues from MightyWords "are difficult to forecast."

According to Fatbrain, the only part of its operations that posted an operating profit in the quarter was its two bookstores, with $644,000 on sales of $1.9 million. Its online bookstore had a loss of $549,000 on sales of $12.1 million. Fatbrain reported that 12% of its online revenues came from overseas in the most recent period, compared to 17% in last year's first quarter. The company was able to reduce its reliance on acquiring books from Ingram from 40% to 34% in the quarter, and hopes to increase the number of titles it buys directly from publishers. During the quarter, Fatbrain bought about 20% of its books from Pearson.
--Jim Milliot

Patty, Burgard to Join Harcourt Trade
Dan Farley, president of Harcourt's trade operation, announced the creation of two new positions last week, one each for its children's and adult publishing groups.

On the adult side, Ann Patty has been named executive editor. Patty will focus on adding to Harcourt's fiction line, an area where she has had both commercial and critical success. Among the authors she has worked with are Mary Gaitskill, Brian Morton, Steven Milhauser, V.C. Andrews and Olivia Goldsmith. Farley said he had been looking to bring Patty to Harcourt for some time and was delighted that she was joining the house. Patty, who will begin at Harcourt shortly after the July 4 holiday, will be based in New York.

The children's publishing division has named Anna Marlis Burgard to the new post of director of new product development. Burgard, who had been editor for special markets at Time-Life Trade Publishing, will move to Harcourt July 14 and will relocate to the company's San Diego office. At Harcourt, Burgard will be responsible for developing books and related products for the book trade as well as less traditional markets. She will report to Louise Pelan, v-p and publisher of children's books.
--Staff

B&N.com Opens BN TV
Barnesandnoble.com last week launched the grandly named Barnes & Noble TV, which will broadcast over the Internet and feature short, book-oriented programs and allow viewers to purchase titles. (Or, as the company so deftly describes it: "streaming video and contextual content with e-commerce capability.") The company also opened registration for its new B&N University (News, June 5) and introduced a redesign of its Web pages, which include a new Bookstore section that focuses entirely on books.

The first "TV" programs are three-minute films called bookVideos. The initial one is The Hungry Ocean, directed by Wilson Van Law and based on the book by Linda Greenlaw, the swordfish boat captain who first gained fame in The Perfect Storm.

In the fall, BNTV will introduce a daily author interview series called Behind the Word, which will feature journalists and other writers interviewing authors. BNTV was developed and produced for B&N by Rain, an independent film, TV and media production company.

For its part, Borders.com has a Web-casting program called Borders Vision, which launched July 1. It features author interviews, musical events, kids, lifestyle, travel and film-related shows. Borders Vision also offers store events online.
--John Mutter

Abu-Jamal's Agent Banned?
A year after being arrested during a peaceful demonstration in support of her client Mumia Abu-Jamal, literary agent Frances Goldin claims that the state of Pennsylvania is using her arrest as an excuse to prevent her from visiting and conducting business with Abu-Jamal, currently on death row while appealing his conviction for the murder of a police officer.

Goldin was arrested with a small group of protestors at a much larger demonstration in Philadelphia on July 3, 1999, for allegedly defying a police order to disperse. Goldin told PW that unlike the other 85 demonstrators arrested that day, she pleaded not guilty to the charge. According to Goldin, the prosecutor subsequently vowed to make her "miserable" for doing so. She was convicted, fined $250 and placed on probation, which prohibits her from traveling outside of New York without permission and, most importantly, forbids consorting with convicted felons such as her client.

Goldin, who is 76 years old, says that probation officials refuse to respond to her requests for permission to visit Abu-Jamal and have also denied her local New York City probation officer the discretion to allow the visit. "These officials are trying to suppress a writer and take away my civil rights," said Goldin, who noted that Abu-Jamal has a book coming out next year. PW's calls to the Pennsylvania probation department were not returned.

Goldin, who is scheduled to visit Abu-Jamal on July 16, said she's consulting with her lawyer, but vows to visit Abu-Jamal whether she gets permission or not.
--Calvin Reid

Grove to Add U.K. Office
Grove/Atlantic will expand its reach into the U.K.in August when it opens an office in London. Toby Mundy, formerly editorial director of Weidenfeld and Nicolson, has been named publishing director of the new unit, which will be called Grove UK.

Mundy will spearhead Grove's efforts to do original publishing in Britain. To help launch its U.K. program, Morgan Entrekin, publisher of Grove/Atlantic, has had preliminary discussions with several British publishing houses about sharing their sales and marketing infrastructure. Grove UK expects to release its first title next spring.
--Staff
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