Anderson News has laid off at least 110 employees and has effectively shut down, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Some booksellers report that shipments of magazines and books from the wholesaler, whose headquarters are in Knoxville, Tenn., have stopped.
On February 1, Anderson News and Source Interlink, which together account for about half of the magazine wholesaling market, began charging publishers seven cents more per copy, a move most publishers balked at, leading them to stop shipments, the News Sentinel reported. Anderson had also sought to shift other costs to publishers.
It is unclear whether or how much Source Interlink is shipping to customers. The Bonita Springs, Fla., wholesaler has filed an antitrust suit against publishers and said that it had received a temporary restraining order. Folio reported that News Group and Hudson News, two other magazine wholesalers, are expanding coverage to take over some of the business lost by the closing of Anderson News and the disruption at Source Interlink.
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In a Wall Street Journal article about employee theft, Karin Wilson, co-owner and president of Page and Palette, Fairhope, Ala., explains the measures she's taken since she discovered late last year that a bookkeeper had embezzled more than $150,000 (Shelf Awareness, January 7, 2009).
Among the changes: "The stamp bearing her signature went in the garbage. Bank-account statements arrive at her home, instead of the business. Employees no longer have access to company credit cards--all charges go through Ms. Wilson."
Besides the missing cash, Wilson estimated that the store lost 20% in potential sales during the holiday season because of a lack of resources to order books.
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From the "booksellers can make you feel better" department,
we submit yesterday's post by Jessica Stockton Bagnulo at her blog, the
Written Nerd. Jessica, who is the events coordinator at McNally Jackson Books, New York, N.Y., and a Shelf Awareness
contributor, titled her post: "Serendipity in Bookland, Or, It Just So
Happened: Why I Love Being A Bookseller In New York (to the tune of
'Lullaby of Birdland')."
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CNN called it "a project of biblical proportions: 31,173 verses, 90 cities, one Word" in a report on Zondervan's Bible Across America
tour to create "a handwritten edition of the New International Version
of the Bible--America's NIV--to celebrate the translation's 30th
anniversary."
More than 15,000 people have contributed so far
by copying one verse of Scripture each. "We're basically halfway
there," said Tara Powers, a spokeswoman for the publisher. "The
youngest child has been 4, and there have been people in their late
80s. We had a blind person who someone guided their hand as they wrote
the verse."
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Next Tuesday, February 24, at 6:30 p.m., in New York City, Bob Miller, founder of HarperStudio, and Jason Epstein, among other things, co-founder of the New York Review of Books, editorial director of Random House, creator of Anchor Books and currently head of Espresso Book Machine, will speak about "The Next Publishing Frontier." Their discussion is part of the Labor, Landmarks, and Literature series at the New York Center for Independent Publishers at 20 W. 44th St.
Dan Simon, founder and publisher of Seven Stories Press, and Peter B. Kaufman, president of Intelligent Television, will join Miller and Epstein during the lecture.
Tickets are $15 for non-members, $10 for members and $5 for students. To register, visit generalsociety.org or call 212-764-7021.
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Via the Book Industry Study Group, Baker & Taylor noted services for Jean Srnecz that will be held near Buffalo, N.Y.:
On Saturday, February 21, and Sunday, February 22, 2 p.m.-4 p.m. and 7 p.m.-9 p.m., at the Wood Funeral Home, 784 Main St., East Aurora, N.Y.
A funeral mass will be held on Monday, February 23, at 11 a.m. at St. Cecelia's Roman Catholic Church, 991 Centerline Rd., Sheldon, N.Y.
A memorial service will be held eventually in New Jersey.
Memorial contributions may be made in Srnecz's name to the following organizations:
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 250, Dallas, Tex. 75244
- Mortel Family Charitable Foundation, P.O. Box 405, Hershey, Pa. 17033
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Laurie Graham has joined the National Association of Independent Publishers Representatives as director, publisher services. In this new position, she will receive and manage seasonal submissions for Frontlist Plus Universal, the latest version of NAIPR's data-entry service for industry buyers (Shelf Awareness, December 15, 2008), which already has some 300 active imprints.
Graham has more than 20 years of experience with WordStock, where she was responsible for data interchange with clients and for the management and dissemination of new-title data for both two-season and three-season book publishers.
In a statement, Paul C. Williams, NAIPR's executive director, said that Graham had "done an outstanding job over the years in providing her customers, including NAIPR, with friendly and efficient service when it comes to the management and transmission of new-title data for delivery to our valued buyers."
Graham may be reached at 27 Grove St., Belmont, Mass. 02478; 617-489-6483; iamlaurieg@yahoo.com.