BTW News Briefs

Today Show Creates Book Club

The NBC morning program Today is starting its own monthly book club. This Tuesday marked the announcement of the first title, The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, who joined the show for an interview. A spokesperson for the book’s publisher, Bloomsbury, said that retailer orders doubled when accounts learned of the title pick, the New York Times reported.

Publishers are hoping the new book club will boost books to the bestseller lists and will fill the void left when Oprah’s Book Club ended after 15 years. (The club was resurrected online in 2012 as Oprah’s Book Club 2.0.)

Today book club picks will be chosen every four to five weeks by a team of the show’s producers and co-hosts. A range of titles will be chosen, including fiction, nonfiction, classics, and new releases. Readers will be able to participate in discussion groups and read excerpts online, and the books will be labeled with stickers after chosen. The show averages 4.4 million daily viewers, just behind “Good Morning America” for morning programs.

Overstock Continues Play for Amazon Customers

Overstock.com is making its deep discount of titles a permanent feature in order to compete with Amazon, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. The company is matching Amazon’s prices on its entire book inventory, and will offer loyalty club members 15 percent rebates toward future purchases on any book purchases made.

In July, when, for a limited time, the company offered books at 10 percent below the prices at Amazon, it kicked off a price war between to the two online giants.

Quebec Proposes Regulation of Book Prices

The Parti Quebecois government has proposed a plan that would regulate the price of books and potentially save bricks-and-mortar bookstores, according to CTV News. Hearings with the parliamentary commission began this week on the issue.

As in the U.S., bookstores in Canada are experiencing difficulties from the changing market and the government in Quebec province is considering whether to fix prices and reduce discounts on bestsellers (setting the limit at 10 percent off) or to draft legislation that would require all books and e-books be sold at approximately the same price at independent shops, chain stores, and online.

The Union of Quebec Writers (UNEQ) has expressed its support of the regulation of book prices to help save independent bookstores.

Simon & Schuster and Barnes & Noble Settle Dispute

The feud that began eight months ago and led to a reduced buy of many Simon & Schuster titles by Barnes & Noble has ended, according to the Wall Street Journal. A variety of financial issues, including e-book discounting and co-op promotional costs, led to the disagreement. A joint statement released this week said the companies “resolved their outstanding business issues.”

Small Business Administration Names Acting Administrator

When Administrator Karen Mills leaves the Small Business Administration at the end of this month, SBA’s Associate Administrator in the Office of Capital Access, Jeanne Hulit, will become acting administrator, the Seattle Times reported. Mills is continuing to work with the White House on securing a permanent successor to the position.

Hulit spent 18 years in the banking industry and served as deputy director of the International Division at the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development before joining SBA.

May 2014 Damages Trial Scheduled for Apple

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who ruled in July that Apple had colluded with five publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan) to raise the price of e-books and therefore violated antitrust laws, has scheduled a trial for May 2014 that will determine the amount of damages Apple should pay, Reuters reported. Apple may also be faced with restrictions on future publisher contracts for a five-year period.

The government and Apple will continue to conduct interviews with experts into December. A class of plaintiffs may be certified based on submitted papers. Cote will also consider the government’s suggestion of Apple working with an external monitor, though she expressed interest in an internal antitrust compliance program instead, Reuters said.