Pittsburgh-area Bradley’s Books is opening three new stores this month, in mall-based locations previously filled by Borders Express stores. Owner Mike Paper tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Our competitive advantage lies in the fact we deal with primarily bargain books–overstocks, remainders, close-outs, things we can find at deep discounts. In today’s environment, it’s especially valuable to offer consumers value.”PTR
Archives for April 2010
Verghese and Grann Top Indies Choice Awards
The American Booksellers Association announced the winners of the 2010 Indies Choice Book Awards: FictionCutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (Knopf) NonfictionThe Lost City of Z, by David Grann (Doubleday) DebutThe Help, by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam) Young AdultCatching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic) Middle ReaderWhen You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books) Picture BookThe Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown) Full story
Perseus Opens Up Digital Distribution Service; Will Aggregate for iBookstore
The Perseus Books Group is expanding their digital distribution service Constellation to make it an option for any independent publisher, now opening it up to clients who are not already customers of the company’s physical distribution services. In concert with that strategic move, Perseus has been named an approved aggregator for Apple’s iBookstore, joining the list of seven other companies that we covered earlier in the week. As is the case for existing Constellation publishers, new clients can choose which of the 20 Constellation partners they want to work with through the service–from the iBookstore only, to the full roster […]
People: Barton to Rise at Oxford, Rich Gets New Beat, and More
Oxford University Press announced a realignment of its three academic publishing divisions–Oxford University Press USA, the UK’s academic division (essentially their adult publishing operation), and Oxford Journals–under the consolidated leadership of current OUP USA president Tim Barton. He took that post recently, after serving as managing director of the UK Academic Division for four years. Communications director Rachel Goode says that they are recruiting for a new position to take care of day-to-day US management under Barton after he makes the transition. The move reflects a more global, platform-neutral strategy across key divisions. Barton comments, “Digital and competitive pressures make […]
Life Under Agency, Continued: Hybrids Aren't Just for Cars
We’re going to keep grinding our way through the idiosyncracies and challenges of life under the agency model, understanding that all of this is a constantly moving target. While Random House has gotten all the attention as the biggest trade publisher whose titles are not available via the just-launched iBookstore, it should be underscored that so far, very few companies of scale outside of the Agency Five have a presence there. In addition to those already announced–Perseus, Nelson, Workman, Sourcebooks, and F+W–we found lists of titles from Hyperion and Kensington (henceforth known as the Non Five). But the list of […]
Stats: AAP and UK
We don’t put a lot of stock into the AAP’s sales estimates (a hybrid of Census data and reports from 86 AAP member publishers, both of which are incomplete data streams). But for those who like to follow them, today the organization published its 2009 sales estimates. Trade sales of $8.1 billion were “steady,” with adult hardcover rising 6.9 percent and adult paperbacks falling 5.2 percent. Mass market paperbacks totaled $1 billion, down 4 percent. By their count, ebook sales of $313 million–up 176 percent–overtook audio sales, which at $192 million were down 12.9 percent. Religious book sales fell 9 […]