Latest from The Bookseller including Waterstones' midnight openings for Harper Lee & EC opens investigation into Amazon's e-books distribution

Waterstones' midnight openings for Harper Lee Waterstones stores across the country will host midnight openings to celebrate the release of Harper Lee’s forthcoming novel Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann), while the company’s flagship Piccadilly shop will host a festival. M.d. James Daunt has called the launch a "thrilling" event. Stores including Glasgow, Manchester Deansgate, Leeds, Liverpool, and Nottingham will put on events on the night of Monday 13th July, before selling the first copies of Go Set a Watchman at 12.01am on Tuesday 14th July.

Pratchett's daughter rules out Discworld follow-ons Terry Pratchett’s daughter has said she does not intend to write any Discworld novels, or give “anyone else permission to do so”. The legendary fantasy writer died in March this year at the age of 66. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. Pratchett finished writing the 41st book of his hugely popular Discworld series in the summer of 2014: The Shepherd’s Crown will be released in the UK in August by Doubleday Children’s.

German booksellers widen gap with online competition German trade association Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels has released its economic data for 2014, revealing that sales of books and professional journals were down slightly by 2.2% to €9.32bn (£6.78bn). The trade association released the figures ahead of the annual industry conference in Berlin next week, with chairman Heinrich Riethmüller relaxed about the sales drop, attributing it to the absence of “strong bestsellers” last year. According to statistics, the top 10 bestsellers generated 20.2% less turnover than a year earlier in 2013.

Kent Police investigating Fifty Shades 'theft' Penguin Random House has confirmed that Kent Police are investigating the alleged theft of a finished copy of E L James’ forthcoming Fifty Shades of Grey novel Grey (Arrow). The copy of the novel, due to be released next week, was reportedly discovered to be missing yesterday (8th June).

Tributes to Marguerite Patten Food writer and broadcaster Marguerite Patten CBE has died at the age of 99. Her family has revealed that she died last week “from an illness stoically borne”, reports the Telegraph. Patten suffered from a stroke in 2011 and spent the remaining years of her life in a nursing home.

Pullman on 'disaster' of piracy The effect of digital on the creative industries means young people expect to access music and e-books for little or no cost, author Philip Pullman has told music licensing agency PPL. According to the Independent, Pullman, speaking at PPL's a.g.m., said we have “sleepwalked” into a “disaster” where everything is free to take.

B&N closes Luxembourg office Barnes & Noble’s office in Luxembourg has been liquidated. The company has closed its European headquarters for Nook Media following the termination of its partnership with Microsoft, B&N said. The e-reading company will continue to operate its Nook business in the UK, B&N spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating confirmed.

MEPs call for reform of microbusiness VAT European parliamentarians have called on the European Commission to propose reforms to the European Union’s (EU) VAT Mini One-Stop Shop (MOSS) system, claiming it is forcing small publishers out of the intra-EU export market.  The new registration rules came into force on January 1st and insist that, for instance, a British e-book supplier selling into Poland must charge Polish VAT; Estonia, Estonian VAT; France, French VAT and so on.

PRH Canada consolidates adult publishing All of Penguin Random House Canada’s adult publishing imprints are to be brought under one newly created division, Penguin Random House Publishing Group. The division, will which will include Penguin Canada, McClelland & Stewart, and Random House Canada, will be headed by president and publisher Kristin Cochrane.

Wi-fi for all libraries by March 2016 The Leadership for Libraries task force has given its backing to the creation of national guidelines for libraries in England, and is planning to roll out wi-fi for all libraries in the country by March 2016.

UK tour for Lockhart YA author E Lockhart will visit bookshops in Ireland and the UK as part of a 2,000 mile tour to celebrate the release of How to be Bad, the novel she wrote with Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski (Hot Key Books). Between 18th and 24th June US-based Lockhart will visit as many cities as possible, starting with the O’Connell Street branch of Easons in Dublin. She will then visit Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Oxford and Birmingham 20th June, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle on the 21st, Glasgow on the 22nd, Dundee on the 23rd, and finally London on the 24th.

Penguin's Little Black Classics win at BMS awards Penguin’s Little Black Classics campaign has won the BMS Marketing Campaign spring season award, topping the adult category.  The campaign’s creator, Sam Voulters, beat off stiff competition from highly commended campaigns for Penguin’s Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey and Orion’s Davina McCall’s Five Weeks to Sugar Free to claim the overall winning position. Judges said the Little Black Classics campaign had beautiful art direction and an impressive range of partners.  EC opens investigation into Amazon's e-books distribution The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation into the way Amazon distributes e-books and its relationship with publishers. The EC is particularly investigating Most Favoured Nation clauses in Amazon’s contract with publishers, which require publishers to inform Amazon about more favourable or alternative terms offered to Amazon’s competitors. The Commission has concerns that such clauses may make it more difficult for other e-book distributors to compete with Amazon by developing new and innovative products and services.