Macmillan CEO John Sargent Is Departing - The New York Times

Today, when Panzer was washing the Panzermobile after our trip to the Bloody Scotland conference, he found something stuck under the windshield wiper. Flattening it out, our fastidious kitty discovered it was a post from The New York Times site about Macmillan CEO John Sargent. Panzer told you about soon-to-be-ex CEO Sargent day before yesterday.

What does it all mean?

According to The New York Times post by Alexandra Alter, there seems to be more to CEO John Sargent's exit from Macmillan than was originally reported. It appears there were more problems in Macmillan than the general public was aware of. While the post lists the library embargo as part of Macmillan's problems, it also highlights recent employee layoffs, employee walkouts and book publishing disagreements. Also included in the post is some interesting information about John Sargent's parents.

 

 Panzer says, "It just gets more interesting every day."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring two cups of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Macmillan

To read Panzer's previous post tootle over to John Sargent

 

 

 

Coronavirus Shutdowns Weigh on Book Sales - The New York Times

It doesn't make sense to me.

Panzer decided to make a stop at The New York Times site today. There he found an interesting post about book sales in the month of March.

The post by Alexandra Alter says, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), book sales were down 8 percent in March as compared to March of last year. Most of that loss was in educational books for children. Ebooks were down by 5 percent as well. In contrast however, audio books were up by 15 percent.

Panzer says, "Well, with schools closed educational book sales would be down, but I don't understand why ebooks sales were down."

Note: This is a long-medium post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to book sales

'Emergency' Online Library Draws Ire of Some Authors - The New York Times

As Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today, he decided to make a stop at The New York Times site. There he found a post about the Internet Archive's "National Library Emergency" declaration. Panzer told you about this so called 'Emergency' a couple of days ago.

According to the post by Alexandra Alter, the Internet Archive (IA) has 1.4 million digital books online. All those ebooks are available for anybody to "check out" for free. Some authors have found that without their permission their books were available on IA. These authors have been asking to have their books removed and most have been, although one author reported scanned copies were still available. It turns out IA has been scanning books and turning them into digital books without telling the authors or publishers what the company was doing. Authors and author groups see this as copyright infringement; however, IA says its not because they call themselves a library and scan donated and bought books.

We get our ebooks from the local library.

Panzer says, "This little kitty is wondering, since my local library system (King County Library System) here in western Wshington is advertising on television that you can check out ebooks and audio books from them online, what is the Internet Archive's emergency?"

Note: This is a long post. Bring two cups of tea and three muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Internet Archive

To read Panzer's previous post about IA's Emergency declaration tootle over to Authors Guild outraged

Dispute Arises Over 'No-No Boy,' a Classic of Asian-American Literature With a Complex History - The New York Times

Today, Panzer was shaken from his nap by booing and hissing coming from the Catosphere. Hopping in the Panzermobile, our brave kitty pilot followed all the noise to The New York Times site. There he found a post about Penguin Random House's Penguin Classics.

According to Alexandra Alter, there's a publishing disagreement between Penguin Random House's Penguin Classics and Shawn Wong, a University of Washington professor, the John Okada estate and the University of Washington Press. The disagreement surrounds Penguin Classics new publication of John Okada's 1957 novel No-No Boy. The novel a Japanese-American man who refused to serve in the US military in WWII. Shawn Wong believes his 1976 copyright of the Okada novel (and subsequent transfer of the copyright to the University of Washington Press) prevents Penguin Classics from publishing the novel. Penguin Classics believes that copyright only covers portions of the novel and they can publish the remainder of the novel. Penguin published the novel in May.

Hearing even more booing and hissing, our kitty boy traveled on to The Seattle Times site. With no digging at all he found a post there about the disagreement too.

According to The Seattle Times' Moira Macdonald, Penguin Random House has now contacted the Okada estate. The estate representative, however, is not interested in dealing with Penguin at this time. The University of Washington has paid the Okada estate royalties for the novel since it was published by them. Penguin has made no such offer. Several Seattle bookstores have pledged not to sell Penguin Classics' version of  No-No Boy. Several well-know authors have also voiced their disapproval of Penguin's actions.

I'm serious. Don't buy Penguin's version..

Panzer says, "Under no circumstances will this little kitty ever buy a copy of Penguin Classics' No-No Boy."

Note: The New York Times post is long. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection. The Seattle Times post is also long. Bring another cup of tea and two muffins to read it too.

To read The New York Times post tootle over to No-No Boy

To read The Seattle Times post tootle over to John Okada's No No Boy

 

Barnes & Noble's Longtime Leader, Leonard Riggio, Is Stepping Down - The New York Times

Panzer was awakened from his evening nap by the Panzermobile's emergency news siren sounding. Our poor nap-deprived kitty headed into the Catosphere to follow the news beacon. The trail took him to The New York Times site. At the site Panzer found a post about Barnes and Noble had tripped the Panzermobile's sensor.

In the post Alexandra Alter reports Barnes and Noble founder Leonard Riggio has decided to retire in September. Mr. Riggio bought the original Barnes and Noble bookstore in 1971 and has been at the helm since. Mr. Riggio will remain on the Board of Directors; but, according to the article he intends to travel and visit other countries in his retirement. The post includes a history of the Barnes and Noble bookstore chain and the business' ebook entry against Amazon with the Nook.

Don't wake until morning.

Panzer says, "With all that traveling it doesn't sound like Mr. Riggio will have much time to devote to the bookstores anymore."

Note: This is a very l-o-n-g post. You'll need two cups of tea, a muffin and a creme-filled doughnut for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Barnes and Noble

Dead Tree Books Aren't Dead Yet According To Readers

You just won't listen.

Panzer made a quick trip to The New York Times site. Our speedy kitty boy found some interesting information about the resurrection of print books.

According to a post by Alexandra Alter, publishers' ebook sales are declining and their print book sales are increasing.

Why?

Although it's buried halfway into the post, under publishers' new contracts with Amazon they can set their own ebook prices. And ... they're setting them high enough that they almost match print (hardback) prices and they're much higher than paperback prices. So ... of course publishers' ebook sales are declining.

Panzer says, "You humans still aren't listening. I already explained the less is more rule to you."

Note: This is an e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y l-o-n-g post. You better bring a thermos of tea and two days worth of muffins.

To read The New York Times post, tootle over to print books
 To read Panzer's less is more post, tootle over to less is more