PW Daily
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In This Issue: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 |
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| B&T Will Pay $76 Million |
by Jim Milliot
According to documents filed with the bankruptcy court, Baker & Taylor will pay approximately $76.3 million for selected AMS assets. The price includes $20 million for what is called "enterprise value"; $50.3 million for accounts receivable (excluding PGW); and between $6 million and $11.3 million for Advantage Publishing Group inventory. B&T will pay 75% of the full cost of accounts receivable (valued at $65 million) and for the APG inventory (valued at $8 million to $15 million).
Among the assets being acquired are rights to the Indianapolis returns center; facilities in Sacramento, Calif.; Ashland, Ore.; and Bentonville, Ark.; the stock of AMS Mexico and AMS UK plus trademarks. The deal does not include the Indianapolis distribution center, which is used primarily by PGW. B&T will also not be acquiring AMS Singapore and AMS Australia assets or AMS's stake in Raincoast. In addition, it will not be responsible for any penalties associated with the SEC and Justice Department investigations of AMS.
A hearing will be held February 16 to approve the so-called stalking horse offer. A final hearing to approve the sale is currently set for March 2. Any company that wants to counter the B&T offer must exceed the proposal by at least $500,000 and the bid must be made two days prior to the March 2 hearing. If a higher bid is accepted, B&T is entitled to a breakup fee, which could amount to $2.4 million. B&T has the right to withdraw its offer if the deal isn't finalized by March 15.
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| Bookstore Sales Drop Nearly 3% |
Bookstore sales fell 2.9% in 2006, to $16.12 billion, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The figures reflect the poor holiday sales reported by many booksellers, with December sales tumbling 8.8%, to $1.99 billion. For the entire retail segment, sales rose 6% in the year.
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| Last Maneuvering Before PGW Decision |
by Jim Milliot
With a 5 p.m. deadline looming to get its final offer in to the bankruptcy court judge, NBN head Jed Lyons said he remains confident he will meet the deadline. Lyons said NBN has over 100 signed contracts and expects to receive more during the day. He declined to give the percentage of pre-petition PGW revenue the contracts comprise.
Yesterday, following a letter sent by Perseus CEO David Steinberger outlining his plans for PGW, Lyons sent his own letter to publishers about what he envisions for PGW if NBN is successful. Like Perseus, NBN plans to make job offers to most of the PGW sales and marketing staff. NBN will also keep a Bay Area presence and maintain a New York office. The company hopes to sign a lease with the appropriate landlord to keep the PGW inventory in its current distribution center in Indianapolis. (The center is not part of the assets being acquired by B&T; see story above).
Some of the PGW staff members took exception to the use of their names in the NBN letter, concerned that it represented an endorsement of the NBN offer, according to Avalon president and PGW founder Charlie Winton. PGW employees have not been allowed to talk to the press during the bankruptcy proceedings. Lyons said the letter was meant to show NBN's commitment to PGW, and not as an endorsement. Winton, who expects to close on the sale of Avalon to Perseus by the end of the month, will serve as a consultant on distribution matters if Perseus's offer is successful.
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| Burroughs's Brother's Book |
by Rachel Deahl
After word was leaked by the New York Post's Keith Kelly yesterday that John Robison, older brother of Augusten Burroughs (né Chris Robison), got a hefty $1.1 million advance from Crown for his memoir about growing up (and old) with Asperger's syndrome, PW spoke to the purchasing editor at Crown, Rachel Klayman, about the forthcoming title. The big question is how, and if, the younger Burroughs will figure into the forthcoming title. Clearing up any confusion about whether Robison's book would feature the Turcotte family —the off-kilter clan that Burroughs lived with and depicted in Running with Scissors as the Finches (and the same clan that is now suing
Burroughs)—Klayman said none of those characters figure in Robison's book.
Robison, eight years older than Burroughs, was not living at home when his younger brother was shipped off to live with the Turcottes, Klayman explained. And while Burroughs's parents will be featured in Robison's book, along with Burroughs himself, Klayman said the book is not a reworking of Running. Rather, it will "appeal to readers of other compelling memoirs and people interested in the workings of the human mind."
While publicity plans for the title are far from being mapped out, Klayman said the brothers would do some joint publicity, but it's not known how much.
To read Burroughs's advance quote about his brother's forthcoming book, click this link.
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| Bloomsbury Gets Hot for Steamy Mosley Novel |
by Lynn Andriani
Walter Mosley's first attempt at writing graphically about sex in his fiction was a risk not only for him but also for his publisher, Bloomsbury. And though the book, Killing Johnny Fry, has received mixed reviews, it's selling briskly: since the December 26 publication, Bloomsbury has moved 30,000 copies and gone back to press three times.
PW's review called Johnny Fry "deep erotica"; while the author refers to it as "sexistential," since it explores the existential tailspin of a middle-aged black man after catching his girlfriend in the act with another man. Mosley has been reading excerpts (including the racy bits) in front of audiences of 200 and more at events, and libraries have reported high demand for the book (all 100 copies were checked out at the Philadelphia Free Library as of two weeks ago). The book has also received strong support from booksellers; Bloomsbury publicity director Maya Baran said many of them have sent in unsolicited comments praising the book.
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ADVERTISEMENT |
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Director, Consortia Sales
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Haworth Press
Binghamton, NY
The Haworth Press, Inc. has job openings for the responsibility of "consortia sales" including direct contact with library consortia in the United States, Canada, and overseas.
read on
16 jobs were posted in the last seven days!
See all available jobs.
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In with the New at MWA
The Mystery Writers of America swore in its new officers for 2007 at a recent event in New York. Pictured (l. to r.) are Reed Farrel Coleman, outgoing executive v-p; Clay Stafford, SE regional president; Nelson DeMille, incoming president; and Daniel J. Hale, incoming executive v-p.
see more pictures
submit your photos and be the picture of the day! |
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ADVERTISING
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PW Comics Week
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 Veitch's War and Love
Rick Veitch is back at Vertigo with Army@Love, a darkly satirical look at modern life in war time.
 Kid’s Comic Con Slated for the Bronx
Alex Simmons has announced plans to hold the first Kid’s Comic Con on April 28.
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| more on comics |
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In this eight-page preview from Brandon Scott Graham's King City, an average young man named Joe and his not-so-average feline friend venture deep below a futuristic city in search of a mysterious key. King City is due in stores this April from Tokyopop.
Click above for the full preview. |
| See all Panel Mania |
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Takemiya’s Classic Manga, To Terra
Later this month Vertical Inc., the New York City publisher of classic manga and contemporary Japanese literature in translation, will release its third manga project, Keiko Takemiya’s legendary science-fiction work, To Terra. Takemiya is considered one of the pillars of shojo manga, having been part of the Fabulous 49ers, the group of women artists and writers who established and solidified the girls’ comics industry in Japan in the mid and late 1970s.
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Exit Wounds
RUTU MODAN. Drawn & Quarterly, $19.99 (160p) ISBN 973-1-897299-06-0
 Tel Aviv-–based Modan gives American comics readers a sharp sense of Israeli life in this brilliant and moving graphic novel. The story follows Koby Franco, a young taxi driver and lost soul, as he searches for his missing father, a man who long ago left the family and may or may not have been killed in a suicide bomb attack. Assisting and prodding him is Nuni, a young soldier who was romantically involved with the missing father. Modan takes her characters across Israel and through a variety of different Israeli social strata as the search progresses. Along the way it becomes clear that Koby’s father’s identity is in flux—he leaves all those that he loves, but
touches on everything it means to be an Israeli: family man, soldier, religious practitioner and, perhaps, victim. Modan is a deft and subtle storyteller, and her meditation on Israeli identity and the possibilities of love and trust (between father and son, woman and man) are finely wrought. Her loose, expressive drawing is both tremendously evocative and precise—always enhancing the plot. The stellar combination makes this one of the major graphic novels of 2007. (May)
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| see all reviews |
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Powell Looks to the Goon’s Past in Chinatown
The Goon, the hero of Eric Powell's satirical horror comic, has faced all kinds of tough situations—zombie priests, prison, giant Mexican lizards—but now he’s up against two new challenges: controversy and his past. The controversy goes back to issue 18 of The Goon, which was supposed to be a story called "Satan’s Sodomy Baby." As for the Goon’s past, that will be dealt with in this fall’s original graphic novel Chinatown.
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February 14, 2007
- Beyond! (Marvel)
- Drink & Draw vol. 1 (Image)
- EC Archives: Tales From The Crypt vol. 1 (Gemstone Publishing)
- Franklin Richards: Lab Brat (Marvel)
- Galaxy Angel II vol. 1 (Broccoli Books)
- Hot Gimmick S (VIZ Media)
- Inubaka: Crazy For Dogs vol. 1 (VIZ Media)
- Hellshock: The Definitive Edition (Image)
- Journeys: The Collected Stories vol. 1 (Mahrwood Press)
- King For A Moment: Meyer's Secret vol. 1 (Mahrwood Press)
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker Casebook (Moonstone)
- Krazy & Ignatz 1939-1940: A Brick Stuffed With Moombins (Fantagraphics)
- Need More Love: A Graphic Memoir (MQP)
- Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (DC/Vertigo)
- Nextwave Agents Of HATE: This Is What They Want
- XTNCT (Rebellion)
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- New Figures From DC
- News Sites Discuss Dark Tower
- Thomas Nelson, RealBuzz Ink Christian Manga Pact
- New Position at VIZ
- Africa Comics Panel In February
- Room Change For NYCC Graphic Novel Panel
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