ABA ceo Allison Hill reflects on her five years leading the organization, ahead of a commemoration of the ABA’s 125th anniversary at Winter Institute next week. Her focus has been to “transform ABA into a values-focused organization over the past 5 years. It’s always been a mission-driven organization, but we’ve worked really hard to define our values and focus our work, using those values as a North Star.” More broadly, she says: “The challenges booksellers have faced during my time in the industry have been a roller coaster. “It was, ‘oh no, e-books are coming,’ but now we’re in a […]
NetGalley Responds to Kobo Device Owners
NetGalley’s newly-launched implementation of Readium LCP-protected downloads left some users of dedicated ereading devices, particularly owners of Kobo devices, unsupported for now. The service wrote to users who reached out about the issue, “We understand change is hard, and we hear you — and we love Kobo, too! We’ve been actively in contact with Kobo, and the good news is they do have LCP support on their roadmap, we just don’t yet know the exact timeframe.” They note that, “Since Adobe unfortunately no longer provides active support for their DRM (.acsm), it is unsustainable for the long-term.” NetGalley evp Lindsey […]
ONYX STORM Sets Bookscan Record
Rebecca Yarros’s ONYX STORM sold 1,288,300 hardcovers across both deluxe and standard editions in its first week on sale through outlets tracked by Circana Bookscan. The deluxe edition sold 1,109,783 print copies, and the standard edition moved 178,532 copies. The service says, “These sales results also make ONYX STORM the fastest-selling adult title in the history of Bookscan, since we started tracking books in 2004.” Earlier this week, the separate service Nielsen Bookscan UK reported opening week sales in that market of 155,000 hardcovers, for them the fastest-selling fiction release since publication of Harper Lee’s GO SET A WATCHMAN. Little […]
Barnes & Noble Changes Buying and Campaign Teams, Lays Off Veterans
Following the quick departure of chief merchandising officer Jackie De Leo earlier in the month, Barnes & Noble has laid off a number of veteran staff as part of a “realignment of our buying and campaigns teams.” Senior director, books Shannon DeVito wrote in an email, “The aim is to streamline our responsibilities and better focus our efforts to improve our bookselling. Unfortunately, this has meant that a number of colleagues have left the business as their roles were removed.” PL is aware of at least seven longtime buyers and publisher liaisons whose roles were eliminated. As of today’s newsletter […]
Full Circle: HMV Said to be Interested in WH Smith High Street Stores
HMV, the UK retailer that oversaw the near-death of Waterstones before selling the book chain in 2011 — and then went through two bankruptcy reorganizations — is now reported by the Sun to be “in discussions” about purchasing WH Smith’s high street stores. HMV is now owned by Doug Putman, a Canadian entrepreneur. Restructuring firms Hilco and Alteri and PE firm Modella Capital are also considered as likely bidders. The paper says, “The retail group has been in negotiations with several prospective buyers of the high street division for several weeks.” The Telegraph notes that “analysts have suggested the business, […]
Hachette Book Group Slashes Union Square Staff
Just two months after acquiring Union Square and Co. from Barnes & Noble, Hachette Book Group has notified the unit’s staff that it will eliminate a substantial number of positions. HBG employees report and believe the layoffs to affect approximately 60 jobs, or roughly half of the Union Square personnel. The company tells PL, “We do not disclose personnel information; however, it is inaccurate and false that 60 employees are being let go. Additionally, some of the impacted employees have been offered other roles within the company and are working with human resources to remain at Hachette Book Group.” When the acquisition […]