Archives for March 2006

BN Delivers As Expected Fourth quarter earnings at Barnes & Noble met analysts’ expectations as the company reported a comparable-store sales increase of 3.3 percent at the BN superstores, with overall sales of $1.4 billion, and a 3.8 percent increase at the ever-shrinking roster of B. Dalton stores, which recorded $50 million in sales. BN.com sales rose just one percent, to $153 million. Net earnings from bookselling (excluding GameStop before the spinoff) were $123 million, or $1.76 a share, including a $7.5 million writedown “related to the impairment of certain store assets determined to be underperforming.” For the full fiscal […]

Holtzbrinck Creates Executive Position Alongside Sargent Holtzbrinck Publishing has created the new role of president, naming Brian Napack to “share general management responsibilities” with CEO John Sargent for the company’s operations, as well as overseeing acquisitions, strategic planning, and business development. Napack was a partner in the media and entertainment practice of L.E.K. Consulting. They note the he has also “built digital and traditional media businesses at companies such as The Walt Disney Company, Simon & Schuster, and ThinkBox, an Internet education company” he founded. Sargent says in the announcement, “Technology is rapidly transforming the way people interact with the […]

The Annotated Dan Brown The reclusive author has given very few interviews since his mammoth success with the Da Vinci Code, so worldwide press is attracted to his testimony yesterday and an accompanying lengthy witness statement as some of the first glimpses into his life. Some excerpts: * “I have a very short concentration span. That’s why I write in short chapters.” * “For me, writing is a discipline, much like playing a musical instrument; it requires constant practice and honing of skills. If I’m not at my desk by sunrise, I feel like I’m missing my most productive hours. […]

The Bonds Business The Sports Illustrated serial of GAME OF SHADOWS: Barry Bonds, Balco, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports is looking like one of the most successful pre-release excerpts in a long time. Meanwhile, SF Chronicle editor (and boss of the two authors) Phil Bronstein admits he turned down the opportunity: “We had right of first refusal. It struck us at some point along the way the price was pretty high,” he tells the NYT. “We would be reprinting basic facts that had already been in the newspaper, but in a different form, and paying a lot […]

Monday, March 13 Advertisement “Authors — Do You Know The Seven Things Rich Authors Know That Poor Authors Don’t?” Learn them all on a free telephone seminar on Thursday, March 16th Why do some authors make a fortune while so many others struggle financially? After working with 9,300 authors over the last 19 years, I’ve learned rich authors simply do seven key things differently than poor authors. Join me for a free 75-minute telephone seminar next Thursday, March 16th and I’ll tell you all about those seven key differences — plus how you can use the Rich Author Strategies to […]

Friday, March 10 Today’s Extra Meal Google Invites Publishers to Register Books for Paid Access After months of discussing a variety of options with publishers to charge visitors to view different types of book content online, Google is introducing their first specific model to publishers today. In this incarnation, publishers can elect to sell “perpetual online access” via Google Book Search to the full text of individual books in Google’s program. Publishers have full control over the pricing of every book they choose to make available in this way, and prices and availability can be changed as often as publishers […]