Today is a special day in the annals of publishing, as it is technically the last day of Publishers Group West‘s existence. Tomorrow the company will be known as Transition Vendor, and the switch of many publishers to distribution by Perseus formally begins, reports Shelf Awareness. It’s the most obvious sign of the “second phase” of bankruptcy discussed in this week’s Publishers Weekly, and how the weekly checks from Perseus will stop as the 70 cents on the dollar plan goes into effect – and publishers must get used to waiting up to 3 months for future payment.
Soft Skull‘s Richard Nash was the only publisher contacted by PW who said that the bankruptcy will definitely force him to delay some titles, although some others were not yet sure about what they will do for the rest of the year. “We’ll be doing triage on what books need to be published and which can wait,” Nash said.
Meanwhile, Radio Free PGW continues its crackerjack coverage of the post-bankruptcy, post-Perseus buying PGW, explaining why non-consenting publishers should resist signing the latest offer issued by AMS. “Signing this offer takes away rights rather than assuring them. No one has yet been able to explain how this offer is better than not signing the offer at all. It takes away your right to file damages against the PGW estate–and why would PGW be asking publishers to give up this right if they weren’t worried about just how much those damages could be?” They also take issue with AMS’s request for bonuses for its top six executives.