Hachette Book Group announced change to their Nashville-based FaithWords and Center Street lines that will see a portion of the division, along with some its functions, relocated to New York–“where they will have more opportunity to interface directly with the literary agents and media located there.” They will create a new Center Street office in New York, comprising an editor, a publicist and an assistant. Marketing, advertising and promotion responsibilities for both lines will be taken over by New York-based personnel, where they will hire a dedicated online promotions person and marketing manager. Among existing staff, publicity director Jana Burson […]
Archives for April 2010
Nook Releases Software, Feature Upgrade
As previewed earlier, Nook has updated their operating software, adding a “basic web browser,” a few games, and enhanced wi-fi connectivity. The update promises “improved page turn speed,” though we’ll have to wait for the reviews to see if they have successfully overcome the deficiencies that have made Nook slower than similar ereaders. As for their delayed/awaited iPad app, CNET reports company officials said “the answer is May, though no specific date was given.” They have also expanded the incentives to use your Nook within Barnes & Noble physical stores with their “read in store” feature. Customers can read any […]
McDonald Moves to FSG, Chin Is Confirmed, and More People News
Riverhead executive editor Sean McDonald will join Farrar, Straus as executive editor and director of paperback publishing, bolstering their team with the departure of Lorin Stein for the Paris Review. McDonald’s author at Riverhead have included Junot DÃaz, Sloane Crosley, Aleksandar Hemon, John Hodgman, Steven Johnson–and of course, James Frey. At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Rux Martin has been promoted to senior executive editor. At Harper Business, Matt Inman has been promoted to associate editor. Yesterday the Senate unanimously confirmed Judge Denny Chin‘s appointment to the the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Ordinarily he would move into the new seat in […]
Amazon Posts $7 Billion Quarter, But Low Guidance Worries Market
Amazon reported first quarter sales after the close of the market yesterday of $7.13 billion, up a sizable 46 percent from a year ago and ahead of consensus expectations by over $140 million. Net income of $299 million increased even more, by 68 percent (at 66 cents a share also well above estimates of 61 cents a share). North American media sales were up a mere 22 percent, at $1.597 billion, now well exceeded by international media sales, which rose 29 percent to $1.833 billion. Growth in electronics is really driving the company’s overall gains. The Kindle store now officially […]
Sales Fall 4 Percent at WH Smith; Publishing Remains Soft for Courier
The UK’s WH Smith reported results for the six months ending February 28, with high street sales of 503 million pounds down 4 percent, both in absolute terms and on a comp-store basis. Books as a category were also down 4 percent compared to a year ago. The company says “the books market was soft during the key Christmas period, but performance varied by sub-category with the poor publishing schedule in non-fiction acting as a key driver behind the market decline.” Nonetheless, they insist that “we continue to implement our strategy to build on our authority as a popular book […]
Today's Amazon and Barnes & Noble News
Following Engadget’s report in early April, yesterday Target confirmed that they will start selling Kindle as of April 25. But they’ll start with just their downtown Minneapolis store and south Florida (which apparently holds 102 Targets), “rolling out to more Target stores later this year.” (Does that confirm that the target Kindle demographic is retirees?) Target has a total of 1,740 stores.Release As for Nook, Barnes & Noble will start airing television commercials for their ereader this week. The WSJ says it’s BN’s first television campaign in over a decade. Unlike Amazon’s whimsical/abstract Kindle ads, the nook spot actually talks […]