Source Interlink Wins Temporary Restraining Order

Lawyers representing the publishers in the suit brought by Source Interlink have been able to convince a Judge that the case should be heard in New York rather than Florida. Subsequently, the judge in the case agreed to an 'expedited' temporary restraining order requiring publishers to continue to ship their magazines to Source Interlink per their existing distribution agreements. A longer preliminary injunction hearing is set for February 23rd. (BusinessWire). It's probably never a good thing to sue your customers and one wonders how SI is ever going to regain publishers confidence regardless of the outcome of this legal tussle.

Time, American Media, Hachette Filipacchi, and Bauer are the major publishers currently using SI and must comply with this order.

ABA Takes it on the Chin for Booksellers

The ABA is reducing annual membership fees by 50% and implementing an assortment of other cost cutting programs to "to help and support booksellers in these extraordinarily difficult economic times." ABA

Among the policies they are implementing are the following:

1. Institution of a hiring freeze, resulting in a reduction of ABA staff by 5-1/2 FTE (full-time equivalents) -- or 12 percent -- achieved through attrition.
2. Implementation of a total wage freeze.
3. Suspension of ABA contributions to the association's 401(k) and SEP plans.
4. Elimination of all discretionary travel.
5. Elimination of all discretionary spending unless prior approval from the CEO or COO is obtained.
6. Increased implementation of web-based communication and webinars for delivery of ABA education programs.
7. Cancellation of ABA's annual spring forum schedule.
8. Revamping of the group medical benefit, with a move to a higher deductible and the implementation of a Health Savings Plan.

The organization has attributed the 50% dues reduction to the 2009 calendar year and has said any new members during this time would also pay the lower rate. Any member that had the temerity to pay already have paid their 2009 dues will get a refund. The announcement did not make any note of the current search for a CEO and whether that position was to be amended in any way as a result of these changes.

All Together Now: Apologize!

In the Independent this week Michael Bywater discusses the Apology Culture. Over here, with just this week everyone from the President to A-Rod, apologizing this op-ed is just as relevant. Here is a sample:

The apology has become the defining gesture of the age. Russell Brand had to apologise for making off-colour remarks. Jeremy Clarkson – a man who would eat his own testicles rather than petition for an apology, even though he'd have to remove them from his own personal brain where they've been living for all these years – had to apologise for making a startlingly fine joke about lorry drivers, and, subsequently for calling Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" at a press conference in Australia. His calling Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" would probably have escaped much attention had it not been for the BBC – powerfully complicit in driving the Apology Culture – publishing on its website a video of Clarkson calling Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" accompanied by a story saying that Clarkson's calling Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" had "provoked anger in Scotland".

We might find some comfort across the Atlantic, where the Apology Culture has become even tackier and more insane than here. President Obama apologised for the sins of his cabinet appointees, on five different TV networks in seven different ways. This wasn't for something he had done. It wasn't for something other people had done who had falsely got into positions of power. Obama was apologising for something two other people had done who hadn't got into positions of power because what they'd done had been found out. So what (we might ask) was President Obama actually apologising for?

Read the whole thing.

Lincoln's Birthday

There's been so much written about Lincoln this year it is no surprise that there is more attention paid to his birth date than (perhaps) normal. OUP has a series of three articles beginning with this one on the President where they interview Allen Guelzo, author of Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction.

Often cited is the fact that Lincoln is the most written about historical figure. Well with little to interest myself last weekend I took a look at BIP via the New York Public Library. According to the database (and this is an unscientific query), there are 1,577 active titles, 25 forthcoming and 519 inactive nonfiction hard or soft cover books on the President. That's a lot especially compared with some other notables such as Washington (1480 active), WSChurchill (521), Napoleon (1143) and Hitler (805). I checked "God" just in case and he/she has 8,312 although I am not sure how those are classified.

OCLC's identities also shows an interesting perspective on books about and by Lincoln. Here. They show fully 18,714 works in 26,693 publications in 66 languages and 1,036,286 library holding. The identities shows how constant has been the flow of books about Lincoln over the past 100 years. It looks like there is always between 350 - 450 new Lincoln books per year.

TOC Summary

Publishing Trends summarizes some of the sessions at this week's TOC conference in NYC.

Link.

Also, if you didn't attend (or even if you did) here is the link to the presentations. Very good of them to make these available.

TOC

Jane Austin Goes all Zombie

Chronicle books for reasons unknown is to re-tell Pride and Prejudice as a Zombie novel. Mr. Darcy comes up all blood sucking. From their catalog:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen's classic novel to new legions of fans.

The 'author' is one Seth Grahame-Smith who has penned some notibles such as How to Survive a Horror Movie and - get this - The Big Book of Porn. And, that's a double entrende that would perhaps escape both Janey and Mr Darcy. Do we really need this?

BookExpo In New York

This news will come as a nice surprise to publishers weighing the continued benefits of BookExpo given the show was scheduled to visit Washington and Las Vegas in the next several years. From their press release, BookExpo has announced that the show will take up semi-permanent residence in New York.

BookExpo America has announced that it is moving the show to New York City where it will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center through 2012. The show was previously scheduled to take place in Washington DC in 2010 and Las Vegas in 2011. In so doing, show organizers are also re-shaping the convention so that it will now occur on a shortened schedule during the work week.

The next BEA, which had already been scheduled to take place in New York City in 2009 and which will include all the leading publishers, will take place, as has been announced, on Friday, May 29 – Sunday, May 31. It will not be affected by the strategic change in scheduling. As always, there will be a full day of conference on Thursday, May 28 before the exhibit floor opens.

The new schedule means that BEA will have New York City as its home for the next four years in a row. BEA Show officials note that they are keeping their options open with regard to dates and location after 2012. The dates for BEA through 2012 are as follows: 2010: Conference/Special Events and Show Preview Tuesday May 25th (exhibit hours 4-6pm), Wednesday, May 26th (9-6 show hours), Thursday, May 27th (9-5 show hours). 2011: Conference/Special Events and Show Preview Tuesday May 24th (exhibit hours 4-6pm), Wednesday, May 25th (9-6 show hours), Thursday, May 26th (9-5 show hours). 2012: Conference/Special Events and Show Preview Wednesday May 30th (exhibit hours 4-6pm), Thursday, May 31st (9-6 show hours), Friday, June 1st (9-5 show hours).

“We feel that this is a move that is timely and responsive to industry needs,” notes Lance Fensterman, Industry Vice President and Show Manager for BookExpo America. “It makes sense on a multitude of levels, not the least of which is that it will provide the majority of our exhibitors with a cost reduction, as well as more flexibility in managing their presence at the show. We wanted to take decisive action in setting our future course and this is our first major step towards a new vision for BEA for years to come. New York City is also the publishing capital and we are anxious to build a strong identity between New York and BEA. There is a significant media presence in New York City and we would like to take advantage of this, not only by building media attendance, but by involving the media in a substantive way in our programming.”