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Amazon to Collect and Remit Sales Tax in New Mexico

New Mexico has joined the growing list of states in which Amazon collects and remits sales tax. Last week, the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department announced that, as of April 1, 2017, Amazon will begin collecting and remitting sales tax to the state for purchases made by New Mexico residents, according to media reports.

The news means that Amazon now collects in 42 of the 45 states that have sales tax laws, plus the District of Columbia.

Ben Cloutier, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Tax Department, told the Associated Press that revenues generated by Amazon’s collections will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars. He also noted that some of the new sales tax revenue will go into the state’s general fund, while some will go to the cities in which the items were purchased.

Bertelsmann to Raise Random House Stake

German media group Bertelsmann expects to raise its stake in its Random House joint venture with Pearson to between 70 and 75 percent, as reported by Reuters.

Bertelsmann will find a long-term partner if necessary for the rest, Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe told German newspaper Der Spiegel.

Pearson currently owns 47 percent of Random House and said in January it may seek to sell its stake after a massive profit warning, Reuters reported.

Ingram to Offer New Poetry Newsletter

Ingram Content Group has chosen Stephen Sparks, a poet and co-owner of Point Reyes Books in Point Reyes, California, to edit the publishing services company’s new poetry newsletter, Little Infinite.

Sparks will curate and collaborate on the quarterly publication, which will highlight poetry’s hottest titles, excerpts, and publishers.

Prior to owning Point Reyes, Sparks worked as a buyer at San Francisco’s Green Apple Books for many years. A devoted poetry lover with a strong following among publishers and poets, Sparks is also a writer and contributor to such literary outlets as the Paris Review Daily, Tin House, Music & Literature magazine, BOMB, and LitHub.

Bustle, the popular women’s blog, has included Little Infinite on its list of “6 Literary Newsletters to Diversify Your Reading List.”

Ingram Content Group COO Phil Ollila said that after acquiring the Perseus distribution businesses, which work with such independent publisher clients as Grove and Coach House Books, the company “saw an opportunity to shine a light on poetry and start conversations about how poetry remains an important part of our industry and our culture through Little Infinite.”

Two New Amazon Brick-and-Mortar Stores in the Works

Amazon has confirmed plans to open a bricks-and-mortar bookstore in Bellevue, Washington, as reported by the technology publication Recode. The online retailer is currently hiring personnel for the store, which will be located in the Bellevue Square shopping center.

On Monday, March 13, the L.A. Business Journal reported that Amazon is also planning to open a physical bookstore in Los Angeles. Local brokers told the Journal that the company has been scouting several L.A. shopping districts as well as a major mall.

The Mothers to Head to Movie Screens

Warner Brothers has signed on to make Brit Bennett’s debut novel The Mothers (Riverhead), the  #1 Indie Next List pick for October 2016, into a movie, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Kerry Washington, star of ABC’s television drama Scandal, will produce the movie with the production company Simpson Street. Bennett will write the script and will get an executive producer credit on the film.

Rick Bass Wins Story Prize

Rick Bass has been named the 13th winner of the Story Prize for his collection For a Little While (Little, Brown). The prize of $20,000 is awarded to the best story collection published each year as determined by a panel of judges.

For a Little While was chosen from 106 entries in 2016, representing 72 different publishers or imprints. This year’s other finalists were debut author Anna Noyes for Goodnight, Beautiful Women (Grove Press) and Helen Maryles Shankman for They Were Like Family to Me (Scribner).

29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced

Lambda Literary has announced the finalists for the 29th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the “Lammys.”

Lambda Literary is the nation’s oldest and largest literary arts organization advancing LGBTQ literature. The prizes celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer writing for books published in 2016. This year’s finalists were chosen from nearly 900 submissions from more than 300 publishers.

The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Monday evening, June 12, 2017, at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

See all finalists on the Lambda Literary website.

Winner of 2016 Tiptree Award Announced

Anna-Marie McLemore has been named the winner of the 2016 Tiptree Award for her novel When the Moon Was Ours (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s).

The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is presented annually by the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council to works of science fiction or fantasy that explore and expand our understanding of gender and gender roles. The prize is intended “to reward those writers who are bold enough to contemplate shifts and changes in gender roles, a fundamental aspect of any society.”

For more about the winning title and to see the titles that made the longlist, visit the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Council website.

Winners of Paris Review Prizes Announced

The Paris Review’s Board of Directors has announced that Alexia Arthurs and Vanessa Davis are this year’s winners of its annual prizes for outstanding contributions to the magazine. The awards will be presented at the annual Paris Review Spring Revel, on Tuesday, April 4, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
 
The $10,000 Plimpton Prize for Fiction is awarded annually to a new voice from the Review’s last four issues. Named after the magazine’s longtime editor George Plimpton, the award commemorates his zeal for discovering new writers. This year’s Plimpton Prize will be presented to Alexia Arthurs for her story “Bad Behavior,” from the Review’s Summer 2016 issue.
 
The $5,000 Terry Southern Prize, which honors ‘humor, wit, and sprezzatura’ in work from either The Paris Review or Paris Review Daily, is named for Terry Southern, a satirical novelist and New Journalist, who was a driving force in the Review’s early days. Vanessa Davis will receive this year’s Southern Prize for her series “Summer Hours” and “Autumn Hours,” a comic in eight parts that began last June in the Paris Review Daily.

Also at the Revel, Richard Howard will be presented with the Review’s Hadada Award for lifetime achievement. To purchase tickets, visit the Review’s website.