Links of Interest: April 14, 2021

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Amazon

  • Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama vote no on unionizing. The vote wasn’t even close and favored Amazon by 2 to 1. What’s next? Read Noam Scheiber at The New York Times.
  • Amazon may open discount stores to offload electronics. They’re exploring pop-up stores and permanent locations. Read S. Dent at Engadget.
  • Jeff Bezos backs tax increase. As President Biden seeks to increase the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent, Bezos released a statement saying that Amazon supports Biden’s infrastructure plans and an increased tax rate—and he calls on Democrats and Republicans to work together on a compromise. Read at the BBC.

Pandemic

  • Penguin Random House US extends pandemic ebook terms for libraries through the end of the year. That means granting a 50 percent discount on the standard wholesale library price for one-year licenses and offering a pay-per-circulation model. Read the press release.
  • Penguin Random House UK isn’t repaying any of the £1 million it received from the government to protect jobs. That’s despite reporting increased sales during 2020. A PRH spokesperson said, “We have used the government’s furlough scheme for its intended purpose: to protect jobs during this extraordinary time.” The BBC notes, “Companies are under no obligation to repay the taxpayer cash they receive through the government’s job retention scheme, but they have been urged to do so if they can afford it.” Bloomsbury and Pan Macmillan in the UK have repaid the government. Read at the BBC.
  • The National Endowment for the Arts reports on damage to cultural institutions. Unemployment rates have skyrocketed for musicians, actors, and dancers. Learn more at the NEA website.

Trends

  • A talent agent discusses content trends in podcasting. There was a dip in true crime content over the past year; nonviolent true crime investigative stories have come back. Self-help and comedy are also popular. Read Nicholas Quah at HotPod.
  • A summary of the Canadian book market in 2020. BookNet Canada offers a few free highlights from their annual report on consumer habits and sales data. Read at their site.
  • Many industries have been destabilized by tech or software—but the questions that follow have little or nothing to do with tech. This applies to the book publishing industry as much as to music, movies, and TV. Read Benedict Evans.
  • What’s selling in comics shops. Manga is way up, as are back issues of periodical comics. Read Shannon O’Leary in Publishers Weekly.
  • Book-to-streaming adaptations can drive sales—but there are some caveats. For example, the Bridgerton series experienced an increase in sales after appearing on Netflix, but A Wrinkle in Time did not, since it had already experienced a sales boost after premiering at the box office prior to moving to Netflix. Learn more from NPD.
  • Black nerds redefine culture. Well-known examples of Black nerds: Barack Obama, Jordan Peele, and Ava DuVernay. Read Adam Bradley in The New York Times.

Culture & Politics

  • Haymarket presses pause on new anthology due to community criticism. The editors of the anthology Against Ableism put out a call for submissions on April 7. By April 8, an open letter was published by members of the disability and poetry communities to express concern about the chosen editors and the language used in the submissions call. Read John Loeppky in Publishers Weekly.

Marketing Toolbox

  • An author put his entire novel on Medium. He offers a step-by-step guide to publishing long-form content on Medium. Read Leonard Crane.