Retailing | Finally breaking its silence regarding the feud with Hachette over sales terms, Amazon acknowledged it's buying less print inventory and "safety stock" from the publisher and is no longer taking pre-orders for its titles. And while Amazon conceded that "Hachette has operated in good faith and we admire the company and its executives," the retail giant said "we are not optimistic that this will be resolved soon." The company also recognized the affect the dispute may have on authors, revealing it offered to fund 50 percent of an author pool to help mitigate the impact. Hachette responded, saying it was glad Amazon has admitted its actions have an effect on authors: "We will spare no effort to resume normal business relations with Amazon—which has been a great partner for years — but under terms that value appropriately for the years ahead the author’s unique role in creating books, and the publisher’s role in editing, marketing, and distributing them, at the same time that it recognizes Amazon’s importance as a retailer and innovator." [Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat]
Publishing | As Valiant begins its third year of actually publishing comics, CEO/Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani, Publisher Fred Pierce, Executive Editor Warren Simons and Marketing Director Hunter Gorinson discuss how the first two years have gone, their foray into the returnable book market, finding a new audience, variant covers and their current movie and other licensing deals. [ICv2]
Crime | Two people have been arrested in Singapore following the seizure last week of a shipment from Shenzhen, China, of pirated goods featuring Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, Captain America and other popular characters. The 40-foot shipping container reportedly held 159 cartons and nine sacks filled with toys, water bottles, bags and other infringing products; customs officials say more goods were discovered in the importer's office. [Today Online]
Creators | Ben Hatke talks about his recently completed all-ages trilogy Zita the Spacegirl. [Words & Curds]
Creators | Graham Sale, former cartoonist for the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, talks about his newspaper days: "People cut my stuff out and post it. It's touched them in some way. That yellowing cartoon of mine that they've kept? People take it off their bulletin board when they move. They put it back up after they've moved. It's the coolest thing. That's more to me than winning a Pulitzer. That bulletin board has been the real prize." [Memphis Flyer]
Creators | Matthew Thurber interviews musician and underground comics artist Carlos Gonzalez. [The Comics Journal]
Creators | Writer James Willard discusses his digital-first graphic novel Penny Palabras, which will now be in print thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign. [Atlanta INtown]
Graphic novels | Texas Christian University has chosen Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis as its Common Read this year; as part of the program, Satrapi will speak at the university in November. [TCU360]
Manga | Top selling manga One Piece will go on hiatus for two weeks while creator Eiichiro Oda gets his tonsils out. The series runs in Shonen Jump in Japan and the U.S. Oda conveyed the news in a short message to his readers, adding, "Since I'm having this surgery anyways, I plan to have a bazooka installed on my shoulder." [Anime News Network]
History | Comics expert Dr. Laurence Grove discusses The Glasgow Looking Glass, which some claim is the world's oldest comic book. [The Daily Record]
Retailing | The local newspaper profiles Green Brain Comics of Dearborn, Michigan, which will be moving to a new location at the end of summer. [The News-Herald]