BTW News Briefs

Internal Changes at Ingram to Refocus Wholesale, Distribution Operations

Ingram Content Group announced on Tuesday that the company would undergo an executive, internal re-alignment, which company executives say will help focus efforts in Ingram’s wholesale business and their growing distribution services.

Ingram CEO and president Shawn Morin said the company’s wholesale purchasing group, led by George Tattersfield, will now report to Chief Commercial Officer Shawn Everson, aligning the company’s “buy side” with its “sell side” in wholesale.

Ingram’s Shared Services Sales Team, which was acquired with the Perseus distribution brands and is led by Jeanne Emanuel, will now be run by Phil Ollila, chief content officer and the leader of Ingram’s distribution and services businesses.

PRH Picks up Holiday House for Distribution

Penguin Random House Publisher Services has signed a deal with Holiday House Publishing, Inc. to provide sales and distribution services for the company, PRHPS reported.

The multi-year global English-language sales and distribution agreement will take effect on May 1, 2018, for the U.S. and Canada, and on December 1, 2018, for all other territories.

The children’s-only book publisher was founded in 1935 and publishes hardcover, paperback, and e-books for preschoolers through young adults, including the I Like to Read series. Holiday House’s backlist incudes award-winning authors and illustrators like Tomie dePaola, Mordicai Gerstein, and Gail Gibbons.

Going forward, the company will publish close to 100 titles per year. In 2018, Holiday House will introduce Margaret Ferguson Books, the first eponymous imprint in the company’s history.

BISG to Restructure Board

The Book Industry Study Group Board has approved a set of changes to their bylaws that will reshape how the group is governed, creating a smaller, more structured governing body.

BISG intends to reduce the current board of 33 members to 14 directors, which will be allocated specifically among distinct industry sectors, and to limit board members to a maximum of two consecutive two-year terms (except for the chair), after which they must rotate off for at least one year. The organization also plans to create an Association Advisory Council and move BISG’s annual meeting from September to April.

The changes, formulated by an ad hoc board committee chaired by Kelly Gallagher of Ingram, must still be ratified at the BISG members meeting on September 25.

South Dakota Supreme Court Hears Sales Tax Arguments

The South Dakota Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in State of South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., Overstock.com Inc., and Newegg, Inc., a case that could ultimately persuade the United States Supreme Court to revisit the pivotal 1992 case Quill Corp v. North Dakota, which forbade states from requiring retailers without a physical presence to collect sales tax.

According to the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s Retail Litigation Center (RLC), the case the South Dakota Supreme Court heard on Tuesday stems from a South Dakota statute passed in 2016 designed to challenge Quill directly; it requires out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales tax if they transact more than $100,000 of business in the state or more than 200 sales.

According to the RLC, while many states have enacted sales and use tax compliance measures, no state has come close to fully recovering the revenues lost due to Quill.

In a statement, the RLC expressed hope that if the South Dakota Supreme Court makes a quick ruling on the case, it is possible that the U.S. Supreme Court could hear this case during its October 2017 term.

Rona Jaffe Award Winners Announced

The Rona Jaffe Foundation has awarded its 23rd annual Writers’ Awards to six winners, in recognition of the special contributions women writers make to culture and society.

Six emerging women writers have been chosen: Aamina Ahmad, Ama Codjoe, Ebony Flowers, Tiana Nobile, Dominica Phetteplace, and Shawna Kay Rodenberg.

The program focuses on women writers of exceptional talent who are in the early stages of their writing careers and offers grants to writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to make writing time available and provide assistance for things like child care, research, and related travel costs.

Rona Jaffe, who died in 2005, was the author of 16 books, including the 1958 bestselling first novel, The Best of Everything. She established The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards program in 1995, which has awarded over $2 million since then.

Each 2017 winner will receive an award of $30,000.

Center for Fiction Announces 2017 First Novel Prize Shortlist

The Center for Fiction has announced the 2017 shortlist for its annual First Novel Prize.

Debut novels published between January 1 and December 31, 2017, were eligible for this year’s award. The seven finalists are:

• As Lie Is to Grin by Simeon Marsalis (Catapult)
• Empire of Glass by Kaitlin Solimine (Ig Publishing)
• Mikhail and Margarita by Julie Lekstrom Himes (Europa Editions)
• The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers (Algonquin Books)
• Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar (Little, Brown)
• Tiger Pelt by Annabelle Kim (Leaf~Land LLC)
• What to Do About the Solomons by Bethany Ball (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Judges narrowed down a 22-title longlist to come up with the seven shortlisted authors. The winning author will receive $10,000, while the others on the shortlist will receive $1,000. The winner will be announced at the Center’s Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner on December 5 in New York City.