Publishers Weekly: “In what is likely one of the last sales of note in the AMS bankruptcy proceedings, the distributor and the Perseus Books Group have filed a motion with the bankruptcy court seeking its approval to sell the PGW name and office leases in Berkeley, Calif., and New York City to Perseus for $80,000. According to the motion, the sale involves ‘all intellectual property associated with the PGW and Publishers Group West marks and names, including but not limited to brand, logo and naming rights.’ The purchase also includes the signs above the front doors and reception desks at the New York and Berkeley locations. In addition, Perseus will pick up office equipment, furniture and data.”

If you want to continue to see independent presses thriving, do help out Soft Skull and McSweeney’s. Both presses have reduced the prices of their stock to offset the shortfall in promised revenue from AMS. (McSweeney’s reports that $130,000 of earnings is now gone.) Carrie has some recommendations.

The Counterpoint news was just the tip of the iceberg. Publishers Weekly’s Jim Milliot reports: “As part of its integration of the Avalon Publishing Group, the Perseus Books Group has formed six publishing divisions, an action that will result in the elimination of at least 12 positions and the phasing out of the Carroll & Graf and Thunder’s Mouth imprints. As many as 33 other employees could lose their jobs if they are not willing to relocate or take on new roles. In addition, Perseus will sell its Counterpoint Press imprint to Charlie Winton (see related story). William Strachan, editor-in-chief of Thunder’s Mouth and Carroll & Graf, and C&G senior editor Don Weise are among the editors being let go.”

This is terrible news. I disagree with Perseus Books Group President David Steinberger’s pronouncement that these two imprints didn’t have interesting identities. Carroll & Graf published ambitious literary novels, such as Paul Anderson’s Hunger’s Brides. And Thunder’s Mouth was a dependable press for quirky collections of B-sides from the likes of Jonathan Ames and Rudy Rucker. The closing of these two imprints suggests that idiosyncratic distinctiveness along these lines isn’t part of the Perseus future. Sure, it’s possible that these sorts of titles might be part of other imprints. And okay, the books from these imprints may not have sold. Publishing is, after all, an industry.

But the question, and perhaps the dependable Milliott might investigate this for us, is whether Perseus gave Carroll & Graf and Thunder’s Mouth the kind of resources they devoted to their stronger-selling imprints.

[UPDATE: More from Jeremy Lassen, who calls this “sad, scary news for genre publishing,” including a link to this letter to Avalon employees. Sarah observes that this is bad news for mysteries too. More at Galleycat.]

[UPDATE 2: Levi Asher: “No distinct identity? Absolute bullshit. Thunder’s Mouth covered the counter-culture with both new publications and essential reprints, and in this capacity they represent no insignificant part of my book collection. It’s sad that the corporate parent is dissolving this great company, and it’s offensive that they’re pretending it’s no big deal. Apparently Thunder’s Mouth had no distinct profits, but that doesn’t mean they had no distinct identity. For readers like me, Thunder’s Mouth is — was — a trusted and beloved brand.”]

I had planned to report on today’s bankruptcy hearing, even though I am now writing this post from an airport. But it appears that the fates (or, rather, the Judge) have decided to continue the hearing until later this week, making my job a little easier. Judge Christopher Santochi has informed publishers that they may sign with both NBN and Perseus, if they so desire. This puts NBN in the spot of getting the appropriate paperwork together before Wednesday afternoon. (And if NBN does not, then Perseus’s offer will be approved on Thursday morning.)

This puts the ball squarely in the courts of NBN and the respective publishers to do the mad scrambling. We shall find out soon enough whether PGW will operate the aegis of NBN or Perseus soon enough. Tomorrow, I will attempt to determine if there are any hesitations some publishers may have in going through NBN. And while NBN’s offer is certainly a sweeter pot than Perseus’s, I will attempt to determine any possible disadvantages.

Meanwhile, Publishers Lunch reports that AMS plans to sell “the majority of its assets, excluding PGW” to Baker & Taylor. The release can be found here.

We’re now less than a week away from the February 12 bankruptcy hearing. But this morning, PW reporter Jim Milliot revealed that one of the two mystery buyers was the National Book Network. NBN made a better offer to PGW clients than Perseus. NBN plans 85 cents on the dollar and only a three-year contract extension (as opposed to Perseus’s 70 cents and four years). Further, NBN has filed an unsecured claim to retrieve the remaining funds, instead of an administrative claim. This is a good sign that NBN might be spreading some of the monies around to the creditors. Galleycat has a memo of NBN’s offer for your perusal.

Radio Free PGW, in a shocking digression from its trademark cynicism, has signaled its approval of NBN, writing, “Hopefully, this will mark an end to the hard sell and arm twisting, and we hope to never hear the words ‘sixty-five percent’ again.”

Of course, since many PGW clients have signed agreements with Perseus (and from what I can determine, these agreements are by no means final; Perseus must have 65% of the PGW clients signed on before the February 12 hearing for the deal to go through), it will be interesting to see how this showdown between NBN and Perseus plays out. And what of the third rumored AMS purchaser? Will we see 90 cents on the dollar and two years? 110 cents on the dollar and six months? Come on, indie presses, hold out and watch these titans tear their follicles out while trying to woo you!