Thomas P. Burke has joined Scholastic as svp, e-commerce, responsible for the operation’s strategic direction and growth, reporting to evp and president of Scholastic Book Clubs and E-Commerce Judy Newman. Burke has been at BN.com for the past five years, overseeing merchandising, online marketing, customer experience, design and editorial content. Philip Gourevitch is leaving the Paris Review–where he has been editor for the past five years–in April, to focus full-time on writing. He says “It has been a great honor — and great fun — to have relaunched this wonderful magazine.” The Sydney Morning Herald has a long profile on […]
Archives for November 2009
Bookselling: Two Schwartz Successors Concerned About Third
Another Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop alum is opening a new store, Open Book run by Lisa Zupke–this time billed as a cooperative, supported by a $35,000 low-interest municipal loan, and located within miles of two other Schwartz successors, Daniel Goldin’s Boswell Book Company and Lanora Hurley’s Next Chapter Bookshop. “They’re definitely targeting my customers,” Goldin tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hurley adds, “I’m just concerned that splitting the pie three ways will take all three of us out.” Open Book is selling memberships ranging from $50 to $500, and soliciting loans from wealthy individuals.MJS
Borders to Slash Another 200 Walden Outlets in January
With competitor Barnes & Noble preparing to close all but the last two of their B. Dalton mall stores by January, Borders announced after yesterday that they will close approximately 200 of the remaining mall-based Waldenbooks outlets in January. The move will leave Borders with about 130 mall-based locations remaining. The company estimates that 1,500 jobs–mostly part-time–will be eliminated as a result. CEO Ron Marshall says, “We believe there remains an opportunity to profitably operate a much smaller Waldenbooks segment that complements our core Borders superstore business and continues to serve readers in their communities. Through this right-sizing, we will […]
Random House Films Gets Stephen Frears to Adapt Beth Raymer Memoir
An agent was asking us just the other day whether Random House Films was still alive since the unit has released only one movie–Reservation Road–since its founding four years ago. But Variety reports that the joint venture with Focus Features has hired director Stephen Frears for a planned film version of Beth Raymer’s forthcoming gambling memoir LAY THE FAVORITE, TAKE THE DOG. D.V. DeVincentis, who worked with Frears on the High Fidelity movie, is adapting, and they are hoping to go into production next June. RH Films optioned the Raymer book in 2007.Variety
Stephen King Tops December Indie Next List
Under the Dome: A Novel by Stephen King(Scribner, $35, 9781439148501) Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb(Harper, $19.99, 9780061941009) A Good Fall: Stories by Ha Jin(Pantheon, $24.95, 9780307378682) Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich(Metropolitan Books, $23, 9780805087499) Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk(HarperStudio, $19.99, 9780061914171) The Gift: A Novel by Cecelia Ahern(Harper, $19.99, 9780061706264) Wherever I Lie Is Your Bed: Two Lines World Writing in Translation by Margaret Jull Costa and Marily Hacker(Center for the Art of Translation, $14.95 paper, […]
Modest Growth At S&S
Simon & Schuster managed to grow both sales and income in their fiscal third quarter, albeit modestly, as sales rose 2 percent to 230.4 million, OIBDA was up 10 percent to $28.4 million, and operating income rose 14 percent of 26.6 million. The sales gain is attributed to “the timing of the release of titles” while the rise in profits was “primarily due to revenue growth, partially offset by higher write-offs of advances for author royalties.” As CEO Carolyn Reidy noted, “we paid for these books in a different environment” and “when sales are down, royalty writeoffs are up–it’s a […]