A California bankruptcy court last week accepted a $325,000 bid from Phoenix Books and Audio to acquire the rights to approximately 300 titles from New Millennium. Phoenix was founded by Michael Viner earlier this year. New Millennium is his previous company, cofounded by Viner with his ex-wife in 2000; he stepped down from it months before it filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
The asset sale will not cover all of New Millennium's creditors, including author/publisher Otto Penzler, who is owed $2.8 million. The bankruptcy trustee has a few administrative details to attend to, but selling the assets essentially closes a chapter in the New Millennium story.
Viner said he plans to spread out the publication of New Millennium books over the next few years, while expanding the frontlist. At Phoenix, Viner continues to work with some of the authors he has in the past, including Bill Maher and Larry King.
