Experimentation is how you learn but sometimes the lessons are tough ones. Long-form narrative may not belong on Twitter and after this week’s tweeting of a short story by Rick Moody through Electric Literature, we may not have to think about it for a while. Encouraged by the start-up quarterly whose “mission is to use new media and innovative distribution to return the short story to a place of prominence in popular culture,” Moody wrote the story specifically for Twitter “and used it as a source of creative inspiration” according to a release from EL. He comments “it really was […]
Archives for November 2009
Pearson CFO Thinks Borders US Is Solid; Layoffs at Borders UK; Dubai's Stake In HMH Parent
A number of British publishing officials have said their financial vulnerability to the failure of Borders UK is quite limited, with Pearson cfo Robin Freestone telling a London media summit “our exposure is very, very low to that Borders UK situation.” Freestone is worried about certain unspecified retailers in other parts of the world, but he is publicly hopeful about the larger American Borders. “The big question mark this time last year was Borders U.S. … I think they’ve come through it. I do sense they’re on the up,” Freestone said. The stock market has remained more doubtful, sending Borders […]
Hachette Book Group Announces New Environmental Policy
HBG has promised to increase their use of recycled paper tenfold, to 30 percent by 2012 and will use at least 20 percent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper by the same time target as part of a broad company enviromental policy. CEO David Young says, “We’re very pleased to establish Hachette Book Group’s new green policy, which demonstrates our commitment to the environment, to the responsible use of natural resources, and to sustainable business practice. It is imperative that our industry be mindful of our impact on the planet, and we believe that our progressive policy will encourage other […]
Bookselling: Borders UK In Bankruptcy; Another Gay and Lesbian Store to Close; Update On Elliott Bay
As expected, Borders UK filed for “administration” (the UK equivalent of bankruptcy) last week, with the firm MCR overseeing the process after another company, BDO, pulled out at the last minute citing an unspecified conflict. Stores started offering discounts immediately thereafter to help sell off existing merchandise while employees and publishers wait to see if anyone is interested in buying part or all of the chain. The Bookseller’s anonymous “Borders Insider” wrote of confusion and changing orders at the store level over how deeply to discount. Most UK newspaper accounts expect the chain to be liquidated, with the possibility that […]
Kindle Sales Close to Half of Physical Sales?
Amazon spokesperson Cinthia Portugal updated a restated version of the company’s claim of acceleration in Kindle sales for a column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, telling the paper that “for every 100 books we sell in physical, we sell 48 Kindle books. This is up from 35 books for every 100 in May.”PG In a more official (though not more specific) statement today, Amazon said that their own unpublished “record” for monthly sales was broken in November “even before Cyber Monday.” Kindle vp Ian Freed says in the announcement, “we’re seeing lots of people buying from one to a handful of […]
People
Former Houghton Mifflin Harcourt director of field sales Paul Von Drasek has joined Capstone Publishers, which publishes children’s books for the educational market. He will lead the company’s planned expansion into the retail market. At Thomas Nelson, Russ Schwartz has been promoted to director, Christian independent retail sales, taking over from the recently-promoted Tom Knight. In the UK, Natalie Jerome was promoted to publishing director at Harper Non-Fiction, and Anna Valentine was promoted to senior commissioning editor. Author Colleen McCullough is due to have brain surgery in January in an effort to alleviate her trigeminal neuralgia, “an illness nicknamed the […]