Wobbly News on the Baker & Taylor Front

By Carmen 

Distributor Baker & Taylor is waging battles on all fronts. First PW Daily reported yesterday that the ongoing fallout from the AMS bankruptcy took another turn as B&T – ordered by Advanced Marketing Services to pay up over $6.2 million allegedly withheld – filed a cross-motion of its own in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, which is overseeing AMS’s bankruptcy, claiming that AMS sought relief in the wrong place. According to B&T, the APA “plainly and specifically provides that disputes concerning the calculation and determination of the Purchase Price are to be referred to an accountant.” Further, B&T alleges that it is owed $1.75 million by AMS for services rendered and expenses through the end of June, a figure which it says will rise to $2.5 million by mid-September. “Financial record keeping and reporting is well known by all not to be AMS’s forte,” the 25-page cross-motion goes on to state, which is about as bold an understatement as you’ll find.

Later, Judith Rosen reported that PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association, has notified members that it is stepping in to help resolve grumblings about slow payments from Baker & Taylor . “A lot of responses I’m getting,” said PMA director Terry Nathan, “say that B&T has not been very responsive in the past. I’m giving it two weeks before I step it up a little bit. This will at least put B&T on alert, and they’ll starting treating independent publishers the way they treat large accounts.”