The Bookseller reports that Anthony Cheetham will join Atlantic UK, where his son Nicolas set up the crime/thriller imprint Corvus earlier this year, starting in September. They say he intends to start an “entirely new activity” for the publisher. Cheetham did not provide additional details.Bookseller Borders promoted Joanna Goldstein to the new position of vp, marketing revenue, responsible for “developing and managing cooperative marketing promotions and sales-driving initiatives with publishers as well as other vendors and third-party marketing partners.” She was merchandising director, newsstand, calendars, games and trend gifts. The Today show picked Ingrid Law’s Newbery Honor winner SAVVY as […]
Archives for July 2009
Bookselling: Children's Store to Close; Store Hit By Truck Reopens; Biography Bookshop Moves
Chicago-area children’s store Crocodile Pie will close after being rescued once by new owners a year ago. Co-owner Amy Moran says: “People either don’t have the money to spend or they’re being cautious – and rightfully so. We have a great client base – people have been very supportive. But they just don’t have the funds that they spent before.” But Flintridge Bookstore, the Pasadena, CA store that was substantially damaged after a tractor-trailer crashed into its building four months, will have a grand reopening this weekend. In New York, the West Village’s Biography Bookshop has been driven from its […]
Kindle Krunching: Week 2
With a second week of data, we’re still looking for the impact (if any) of Kindle sales as reflected in the broader USA Today chart. As was the case last week, Kathryn Stockett does seems to be getting a big Kindle boost. Almost every other title on the Kindle Top 10 declined overall in the USA Today list, though. Daniel Silva and Jennifer Weiner had the top two hardcover fiction titles for the week, but Weiner did less well relatively with the Kindle audience. Here’s our chart, ranking the books according to their position on the Kindle bestseller list, with […]
International Earnings: Mondadori Down More than 20%; Restructuring To Come
Sales at Italy’s book and magazine giant Mondadori fell over 21 percent in the first six months of the year, to 730 million euros (from 930 million a year ago). Net income fell further still, down 80 percent to 7.3 million euros (with EBITDA of 40 million euros, down 61.5 percent). The company also carries 474 million euros of debt. Despite the drops, Mondadori’s results were actually ahead of analysts’ expectations. Reuters says “it gave no clear indication about much-awaited cost cuts but said it expected a ‘strong’ restructuring in the coming months.” The company called the year “difficult and […]
Results Rise at Harlequin on Weak Canadian Dollar, But Retail Sales Decline
In a mixed second quarter report, Harlequin parent Torstar said book sales rose 8.7 percent to $249 million (CA), though the increase was due almost entirely to the weaker Canadian dollar. Currency exchange comprised most of the profit gains as well, up $2.4 million at $19.7 million for the period. “Underlying results were up in the overseas and North America direct-to-consumer divisions and down in North America retail.” And the company expects weaker results in the second half of their year. They expect to grow “but not at the rate realized in the first half.” The company notes: “Harlequin continues […]
Google Settlement at the NYPL and In the NYT
If you were so inclined you could probably spend the better part of the next month on daily seminars and webinars related to the proposed Google Books legal settlement. Yesterday’s venue was the NY Public Library, moderated by David Ferriero (moments before he was reported as President Obama’s pick to be Archivist of the United States). A number of librarians expressed concerns about managing the single all-access terminal to be provided for each public library branch. Bertelsmann’s Richard Sarnoff suggested that on this and other matters, the settlement should be viewed as a starting point rather than a definitive rule-set. […]