Booksellers Outraged by Chronicle’s Rollout of John Oliver Book

Independent booksellers are expressing frustration and disappointment with Chronicle Books for its handling of comedian John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo. Oliver announced the immediate availability of the book at the end of his Sunday, March 18 show, but to the surprise of independent booksellers, Oliver said that the book was only available at that time through Amazon.

The illustrated children’s book about a gay bunny parodies the newly released Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of the Vice President by Vice President Mike Pence’s wife Karen and daughter Charlotte, which is told through the eyes of the family’s pet rabbit.

“I didn’t even know there was a vice-presidential bunny,” said Laura Cummings, owner of White Birch Books in North Conway, N.H., and president of the New England Independent Booksellers Association. Cummings, who was caught unaware by the release of both books, received word from her Chronicle books rep morning after Oliver’s program aired.

Last Friday, Chronicle president Tyrrell Mahoney sent an e-mail apology to regional indie bookseller association board members about the rollout. “We had to ensure that the book was a complete surprise for the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver audience,” wrote Mahoney.

“[A]fter much deliberation and exploration of other options, we ultimately agreed to make the book available for purchase at the time of the on-air surprise by allocating a percentage of the print run to Amazon and making the rest of the first print run available to all our other retailers as soon as possible.”

By that time, Mahoney said demand had risen from an initial print run of 40,000 copies to 400,000. To meet the surge in interest, Mahoney said Chronicle is working with multiple printers to print additional copies, while talking to its distributor, Hachette Book Group, about speeding delivery to all accounts. “Our #1 goal right now is to get this book into your store,” Mahoney wrote. Her explanation, however, fell flat with empty-handed booksellers.

read more/source: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/76440-booksellers-outraged-by-chronicle-s-rollout-of-john-oliver-book.html

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