With the juvenile and YA nonfiction categories both posting better than 32% gains, unit sales of print books rose 10.3% in the week ended Sept. 26, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Unit sales rose 32.3% in juvenile nonfiction over the week ended Sept. 28, 2019. Two new titles helped boost sales: Superpowered by Renee Jain sold more than 11,000 copies in its first week, putting it in second place on the category list. Channel Kindness debuted in sixth place on the list, selling nearly 8,000 copies. In third place was Patricia Brennan Demuth’s Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?, which sold more than 11,000 copies. Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi was #1 in YA nonfiction, selling almost 8,000 copies. Total units in the category rose 34.5% over 2019.

Every holiday season, major parcel carriers and courier services add surcharges to cover the increased volume of packages they must deliver through the final quarter of the year. Not surprisingly, this year’s surcharges are larger and broader than ever before. In fact, 2020 may go down as the largest “peak season” in history, given the e-commerce boom that happened from the coronavirus pandemic, which shifted sales to e-commerce and away from in-person shopping. FedEx and UPS both saw 20 percent increases in packing volume through May, while USPS was hit with a massive 50 percent increase in packages they delivered through June. Switching to the leading parcel companies may save you from the potential of late or lost packages — but the peak season surcharges will affect companies of all sizes. Each carrier has specific criteria by which they assess and apply surcharges, but there are packaging strategies that can be deployed to lower fees regardless of which service you’re using.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced a strategic restructuring to accelerate its digital transformation and align its cost structure with its digital first, connected strategy. These steps will further streamline operations and better enable HMH to support teachers and students with digital first, connected solutions that drive successful outcomes in remote, face-to-face and hybrid learning environments.“The actions we announced today will help us to realize our digital first vision by creating a more focused company with increased recurring digital subscription revenue that produces higher margins and free cash flow. We recognize the personal impact these actions will have on our HMH team members. We thank our departing colleagues for their contributions and are committed to treating them in a respectful and compassionate way.” Joe Abbott, HMH’s Chief Financial Officer added, “The actions we’re taking are intended to drive billings growth, position us to build our recurring subscription revenue base, simplify and strengthen our business model, reduce costs, and generate sustained and positive free cash flow." The Company’s restructuring includes both labor-related and non-labor expense reductions. The labor-related reductions involve organizational changes resulting in a 22% reduction of HMH’s workforce, including positions eliminated as part of the previously announced Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program and net of newly created positions to support HMH’s digital first operations.

InnerWorkings, Inc. and HH Global Group Limited announced the completion of HH Global’s acquisition of InnerWorkings. The combined organization will be led by Robert MacMillan, Chairman and Group CEO of HH Global, together with experienced senior managers from both companies. The transaction was announced on July 16, 2020 and received approval from InnerWorkings stockholders on September 24, 2020. Under the terms of the merger agreement, InnerWorkings stockholders will receive $3.00 in cash for each share of InnerWorkings common stock they hold. As a result of the completion of the transaction, shares of InnerWorkings common stock were removed from listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market, with trading in InnerWorkings shares suspended prior to the opening of business on October 1, 2020.

Since 2005, 2,100 newspapers have closed, almost one-quarter of the 9,000 newspapers that were being published in 2004, according to a report from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Can newspapers be saved? The Rebuild Local News coalition has an ambitious plan.RLN is not turning to government for a bailout; it sees it as an ally. The gist of the plan is for Americans to step up and help save local news, which is essential to ensure communities have a watchdog to fight corruption and waste. One bipartisan idea is a $250 refundable tax credit used to buy local news subscriptions or as a donation to a local nonprofit news endeavor.

As part of the ongoing preparations by the United States Postal Service for the November election, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy requested the issuance of an internal directive to authorize and instruct the use of additional resources to satisfy any unforeseen demand and ensure that all Election Mail is prioritized and delivered securely and on time. The directive is in response to the Postmaster General’s commitment made in August to engage standby resources in all areas of operations beginning Oct. 1, 2020. “The U.S. Postal Service’s number one priority between now and the November election is the secure, on-time delivery of the nation’s Election Mail. The Postal Service, our unions, and the more than 630,000 postal employees are united in delivering on this sacred duty,” said Postmaster General DeJoy. “These actions ensure additional resources will be made available as needed to handle whatever volume of Election Mail we receive.”

Online retailers of physical goods are seeing five times as many new customers now than they did before the pandemic, according to a new report from Forter, increasing both fraud risk from criminals trying to pose as good customers and the risk of turning down legitimate shoppers. A separate study from Sift shows criminals are taking over customers’ accounts more frequently as a way to steal. Two reports released today by fraud-prevention technology providers show how the coronavirus pandemic is creating new challenges for online retailers trying to distinguish the growing number of legitimate online shoppers from criminals seeking to commit fraud. Both note how the rapid growth of curbside pickup is increasing the likelihood of retailers suffering fraud losses.

Over more than six months of extreme disruption, the nation’s independent bookstores have steadily grown their businesses beyond their four walls. A PW survey of three dozen indies nationwide found most offering some combination of online sales, curbside pickup, home delivery, outdoor browsing, and in-store shopping. The diversity of sales channels reflects a substantial expansion of retail customer service as they navigate evolving market conditions caused by Covid-19 and climate change. More than 80% of bookstores surveyed are now open for some form of limited in-store browsing, with appointments or other measures to ensure that they abide by state capacity guidelines. Of the shops that are not open to in-store browsing, all have online ordering and most are offering curbside pickup and outdoor browsing. That level of customer service reflects an unparalleled modernization of independent bookselling, but the question on the minds of booksellers is whether their efforts will be enough to combat forces beyond their control.

The Association of American Publishers announced that its Directors have unanimously elected Brian Napack as Chairman of the Board, effective September 25, 2020. Mr. Napack, President and CEO of John Wiley & Sons, has been AAP’s Vice Chairman since the beginning of the year, and a Board member since 2017. Mr. Napack succeeds John Sargent, who resigned as AAP’s Board Chairman on September 17, 2020 in conjunction with stepping away from Macmillan Publishers. Mr. Sargent gave more than twenty years of exceptional service to AAP, nearly thirteen of them as an officer.

Amazon is set to significantly expand its digital and on-demand printing capabilities after reupping an existing agreement with Kornit, the Israeli manufacturer of high-speed inkjet printing equipment. Over the next five years, Amazon committed to buying $250 million in existing Kornit products, such as digital printers and inks, and $150 million in "future products." The deal totals $400 million. The move is a big one for Amazon, which has been steadily and methodically building its digital printing capacity over the last several years. Most of that capacity has gone toward its Merch by Amazon service, a print on-demand platform that enables sellers to create and sell custom apparel and other merchandise decorated and fulfilled by Amazon. We've covered Merch by Amazon and two related services—Amazon Custom and Amazon Merch Collab—at length, particularly where they stand in relation to the promotional products industry.