HH Global Completes Acquisition of InnerWorkings

A tentative contract agreement has been reached between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), easing concerns about a strike at 29 West Coast ports disrupting incoming freight from the Asia-Pacific region ahead of the fall and Q4, nearly a year after the previous contract expired. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that recognizes the heroic efforts and personal sacrifices of the ILWU workforce in keeping our ports operating,” said PMA President James McKenna and ILWU President Willie Adams in a joint statement. “We are also pleased to turn our full attention back to the operation of the West Coast ports.”

Books-A-Million is introducing same- and next-day delivery across its 231 locations nationwide. Leveraging the Walmart white-label GoLocal “delivery-as-a-service” platform, Books-A-Million will roll out same- and next-day delivery in the coming weeks across its 231 locations nationwide, starting with its Southeast and Midwest markets. The retailer already offers buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) and free curbside pickup options. Customers will place an order online at booksamillion.com and select the "same-day delivery" option during checkout. The order will then be picked up by a delivery driver and dropped off at the customer's desired location. Orders placed before 3 p.m. will be delivered same-day.

No matter which way you look at it, sales of mass market paperbacks have been in steady decline since 2017. NPD BookScan data shows that unit sales fell 31.5% in 2021 compared to 2017, while the Association of American Publishers put the decline in dollar sales at a more disturbing 42.7% in 2020. Both data sets show more declines occurring in 2022. To be sure, the mass market paperback format has experienced ups and downs in the past. The last time PW wrote about the prospects for mass market paperbacks, in October 2014, the format was trying to recover from the shock it suffered due to the explosion of cheap e-books, especially in such important areas as romance and science fiction and fantasy. (Asked last week, during the DOJ’s trial to prevent PRH from acquiring S&S, whether he had made reductions in title output following the Random House–Penguin merger in 2013, PRH CEO Markus Dohle pointed to adjusting the number of mass market paperbacks published by Berkley/NAL in response to the flood of 99¢ and $1.99 self-published e-books that hit the market, luring away readers of genre fiction.)