Albert Whitman Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - Publishers Weekly

This doesn't look good.

When Panzer stopped at the Publishers Weekly site today, he discovered some news about publisher Albert Whitman.

 

According to Claire Kirch's post, the 106 year old children's book publisher filed for bankruptcy. Included in the post are links to other information about the company, the creditors, and the bankruptcy.

 

Panzer says, "Authors who have contracts with the publisher are going to get pulled into this bankruptcy."

 

Note:This is a long post. You'll need to decide what to bring to snack on while you read.

 

To read the post tootle over to Albert Whitman Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Workers at Two B&N Stores Vote to Unionize - Publishers Weekly

I wonder if this will impact prices at the stores?

Today, Panzer made a quick trip to the Publishers Weekly site. There he discovered a post about some of Barnes and Noble's store employees unionizing.

According to the post by Claire Kirch, two Barnes and Noble stores have voted to unionize. One store is in San Jose, CA and the other is in Bloomington, IL. The two stores join three others which have already unionized.

Panzer says, "Interesting."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. Bring a small cup of hot chocolate to drink while you read today's selection.

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble

 

 

Children's Authors Show Off Their Treasures on Antiques Roadshow - Publishers Weekly

 Today Panzer stopped in at the Publishers Weekly site. There our inquisitive kitty boy found a post about three authors and the Antiques Roadshow.

 

It's true he's a dog, but those Snoopy comics are cute.

According to the post by Claire Kirch, three children's authors will be appearing on the PBS Antiques Roadshow this season. Because of COVID-19 travel restriction and problems, the show needed to find celebrities near the show's home base in Boston. In addition to other celebrities, this season's shows features children's author Jason Reynolds, and author-illustrators Marc Brown and Mo Willems and their treasures.

 

Panzer says, "This just seemed really interesting to this little kitty."

 

Note: This is a long post because it discusses the 'treasures' of each of the three featured authors. Bring a large cup of tea, a muffin and three chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to Antiques Roadshow 

Amazon Breaks Embargo of 'TheTestament' - Various Sources

Panzer was eating his lunch when his food bowl began shaking from all the screaming and shouting coming from the Catosphere. Getting into the Panzermobile, he discovered the noise was coming from different directions. Our busy kitty visited the Publishers Weekly site and The Guardian site and discovered both have posts about Amazon and The Testament embargo. Panzer told you yesterday about Amazon breaking the embargo on Margaret Atwood's new book.

According to the Publishers Weekly post by Claire Kirch, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) has been trying to convince the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Amazon for violating antitrust laws. The ABA now wants to use Amazon's shipment of Margaret Atwood's new novel before the embargo conclusion as new fuel in that argument.

It was an accident.

According to The Guardian's post by Alison Flood, Amazon shipped 800 pre-ordered copies of the novel to buyers by accident. The post includes a quote from Amazon which says "a technical error" caused the books to be shipped early. A quote from Atwood's publisher Penguin Random House says the error "has now been rectified."

Panzer says, "Looks like this kerfuffle* will be around for a while."

Note: These are large posts. Panzer hopes you still have that RV you borrowed for yesterday's posts, because you'll need it and its cooking and sleeping facilities for today's reading selections.

To read the Publishers Weekly post tootle over to ABA
To read The Guardian post tootle over to Amazon
To read Panzer's previous post tootle over to Booksellers

* Yes, it's a word. Google it. Tee hee hee

Indie Booksellers Incensed as Amazon Breaks 'Testament' Embargo - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today, when the Panzermobile was buffeted and shaken by crying and screaming and gnashing of teeth. Following all the noise took our brave kitty boy to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about online book retailer Amazon's latest mess with bricks and mortar bookstores.

 According to Claire Kirch's post, Margaret Atwood's new novel The Testament, the sequel to The Handmaiden's Tale, is scheduled to go on sale September 10. Publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) required bookstores to sign an embargo contract agreeing not to sell the book before that date. It turns out, as soon as Amazon got the books delivered to their warehouse they began mailing copies to their customers who pre-ordered it. Bricks and mortar bookstores immediately complained to PRH. As soon as Amazon realized what had happened, the company stopped the book deliveries.

I bet somebody is looking for a new job.

Panzer says, "Umm ... Were they all sent from just one warehouse? ... If so ... Then ... Maybe it was a mistake."

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

To read the post tootle over to Amazon

Winter Institute 11: Report Finds $1 Billion Tax Gap Caused by Amazon - PW (Publishers' Weekly)

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard crying and the gnashing of teeth. Following all the noise took him to the Publishers' Weekly online site. There our brave kitty explorer found a post by Claire Kirch about the Winter Institute 11 conference.

The post is about a report presented to the attendees at Winter Institute 11. Prepared by the American Booksellers Association and Civic Economics, the report says 23 states and Washington, D.C. do not collect sales tax from Amazon.com. It also says because of the sales at Amazon.com and other online retailers an estimated 30,000 retail businesses were not opened and property taxes not collected from them. Also, 136,000 jobs were not created by those non-existent companies. And, finally, the report says all of the sales taxes, non-existent businesses and non-existent jobs add up to $1 Billion dollars Amazon (and the other unnamed online retailers) have cost.

My head hurts just thinking about it.

Panzer says, "I don't understand human math. If the companies don't exist, how can you know what size they would use for their store? And how can you know, if something doesn't exist. how many employees they didn't hire? And ... Sales Tax? If you didn't collect it, how do you know how much it was?  Nothing plus Nothing plus Nothing equals $1 Billion?"

Note: You'll need a cup of tea and two muffins for your reading today.

To read the post, tootle over to Winter Institute 11