Amazon, AAP Balk at Subpoenas
Amazon and the Association of American Publishers have objected to subpoenas issued to them by Google as part of the discovery phase of the copyright infringement lawsuit brought against the search giant by the AAP and the Authors Guild. The subpoenas were filed earlier this month, as were subpoenas to Yahoo, Microsoft, Random House, HarperCollins and Holtzbrinck Publishers. Although all the subpoenas are a bit different, in general they seek details related to each company's book search projects.
Responses from Microsoft, Yahoo and the three publishers have not yet been filed; replies are not due until late November.
New B&N Discount
Customers who belong to Barnes & Noble's Members program will now receive a 40% discount on fiction and nonfiction hardcover bestsellers, 20% off all adult hardcover books, and 10% off everything else sold in B&N stores and online at Barnes & Noble.com. Customers pay $25 annually to belong to the Members program.
Ingram Aids Graphic Arts
As part of its plan to reemerge from Chapter 11, Graphic Arts Publishing Center has signed a distribution agreement with Ingram Publishers Services under which IPS will assume all back-office fulfillment functions.
In addition, IPS parent company Ingram Book Co. has agreed to invest $1 million in Graphic Arts to help the publisher repay its creditors.
Ingram spokesperson Keel Hunt, called the Graphic Arts investment "a special case," and said the wholesaler/distributor "is not looking to get into the publishing business." Graphic Arts hopes to leave Chapter 11 early next year.
Media Sales Up at Amazon
For the third quarter ended September 30, sales in Amazon's North America media segment rose 15%, to $785 million, compared to growth of 21% in the comparable period in 2005. The slower growth was attributed to the 1.6 million copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the e-tailer sold in 2005. For the first nine months of the year, North America media sales increased 16%, to $2.33 billion.
Banta to Add China
Banta Corp. is close to acquiring a book printer in southern China. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with an unidentified printer and hopes to close the deal before the end of the year. If the purchase goes through, it will be Banta's first printing facility in China.
Carns Launches Rookery
Tracy Carns, formerly at Overlook Press, has launched her own independent publisher:
Rookery Press. The Manhattan-based operation, which will be run out of Overlook's office and be distributed by the house, will focus on serious nonfiction and literary fiction as well as works in translation, reprints, drama titles and some illustrated fashion and design books. Carns plans to launch her first list in summer 2007 and eventually do 20 titles annually.
HC Wins Littell
HarperCollins has acquired U.S. rights to Jonathan Littell's Les Bienveillantes, which was the hot book at Frankfurt. HC plans to publish the title, already a French bestseller, in spring 2008.
