Archives for August 2005

Sales Keep Rising at Audible, While Profits Are Slim Audible’s income continued its sharp rise, hitting $15.3 million in their second quarter, almost double from a year, with income of less than $500,000, or 3 percent of net revenue. The company reports, “As of the end of the second quarter, there are a total of 611,000 total customers who have come to Audible to purchase digital audio content.” Release In other earnings, media giants Time Warner and Viacom both reported quarterly results this week. At each, the book publishing division warrants a sentence or two. At Simon & Schuster, “Publishing’s […]

Notes Sorry; we had some e-mail gremlins yesterday, and then personal Internet access issues today. FYI, if you ever have problems with your mail, please note that Lunch Deluxe is posted to PublishersMarketplace.com every day. The top story is linked right from the home page, and the rest can be found through the Lunch Archive tab on the left. Quills Nominees Announced; Broadcast will Lag Presentation The nominees for the new Quills awards — 95 strong, over 19 categories — have been announced. (The AP notes ticket prices for the event as ranging from $1,000 each to $25,000 for a […]

New Publisher for AMP, and Other Personnel News Andrews McMeel has hired Kirsty Melville as publisher of the company’s book division, beginning in early September. After a long run as publisher at Ten Speed Press, Melville had been publisher at University Games since last year. Recently appointed president and COO of Andrews McMeel Hugh Andrews notes in a statement, “Kirsty brings with her a wealth of industry knowledge and experience as well as a contagiously charismatic nature. We are confident that under her leadership, AMP will continue to evolve and meet strategic planning goals in areas of acquisition, backlist support, […]

Family of Doctor Who Had Custody of Burroughs Sue over SCISSORS Six relatives of the late Dr. Rodolph H. Turcotte have sued author Augusten Burroughs, publisher St. Martin’s, and Burroughs’ agent (he’s represented by Christopher Schelling at Ralph Vicinanza, but Schelling isn’t named in this article) in a Middlesex, MA court, alleging that the family was easily recognized in the memoir RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, even though they were renamed the Finches. “The suit demands a public retraction of the book and a public statement that it is fiction and not a memoir. The suit also asks that the publisher be […]

Analysts Think A Takeover is Audible The iPod saved Audible.com and for now the company remains the top provider of digital audiobooks. But with NPR ending a six-year relationship with the company, Amazon’s decision to sell their own digital audio product instead of directing customers to Audible, and audio ventures from other major Internet companies, at least some stock analysts think the company doesn’t have the money or scale to fend off growing competition and expect it to be sold to a larger player. AP report Court Appoints Cedco Receiver, But Fate is Still Unclear There’s more on the strange […]