filed a 1998 lawsuit against Borders and Barnes & Noble alleging that the two retail chains exerted undue and unfair pressure against publishers for the purpose of receiving discounts and promotions that were not available to the industry as a whole.
In addition, the corporation has suffered image problems from a strong anti-union stance. For instance, in 1996, author Michael Moore=s 47-store book promotion tour for his book Downsize This: Random Threats from an Unarmed American was abruptly canceled because of his pro-union stance (AAmerican book...@ 1998, 102).
In response 0Moore wrote AI made the mistake of uttering a five letter word, the dirtiest word in all of corporate America union" (Overbeck, 1996, Online).
When Moore arrived at the Philadelphia Borders Bookstore, a group of protesters had already formed, protesting the firing of Miriam Fried, a 22 year old employee who was also a Aunion activist who had been summarily dismissed without warning soon after attempting to organize workers at the store@ (Overbeck, 1996, Online).
The book publishing and retailing industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. The industry includes some 12,000 publishers that produce a wide variety of hardbound and softbound books annually (AAmerican book...@ 1998, 12).
A highly informative web site sponsored by Publishers=s Weekly details trends and changes in the book publishing industry which is considered to an industry going through major changes. Traditionally, the United States book publishing industry has been segmented into the following categories.
General interest fictionB Including romance, detective, science fiction, lifestyle and special interest (children, ethnic groups and so on.)
General Interest Non-fiction -- Including self-help books, biographies, travel, and so on.
Trade - Including books published for specific professions such as law, accounting, technology, business, manufacturing and the like.
Te...