Former Perseus ceo Jack McKeown and Verso Advertising president Denise Berthiaume will start a 2,000-square-foot bookstore, Books & Books Westhampton Beach, scheduled for a July 4-opening. In an unusual initiative, store owners McKeown and Berthiaume have created a marketing and branding affiliation with Mitch Kaplan’s renowned group of four Books & Books bookstores. They’ll use the layout and design of Kaplan’s stores on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach and in the Bal Harbour Shops mall. As an “event-intensive” venture the Westhampton store will work with Books & Books’ Florida staff to schedule author events, and they expect to share web, […]
Archives for May 2010
Catalog News: Minor Details on Palin and Woodward Books
HarperCollins announced a pub date for Sarah Palin’s next book–November 23–and the title: AMERICA BY HEART: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag. And the AP covers Simon & Schuster’s catalog copy for Bob Woodward’s untitled September book on President Obama. “Obama has learned that he is not commander-in-chief of the economy,” the catalog writes. “Many of his high-profile domestic reforms — health care, education, and energy — were largely turned over to Congress.” The digital catalog adds that “Woodward provides the first inside account of President Obama wrestling with the fate of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the […]
People: Shear Promoted; Remembering King; Viz Layoffs
At St. Martin’s, Matthew Shear has been promoted to evp and publisher, continuing to report to president and publisher Sally Richardson. As ceo John Sargent notes, “though a structure with two publishers in the same company is a bit unorthodox, I believe it truly reflects how they work together.” Richardson and Shear have worked together at SMP for 15 years. Sargent writes in his announcement: “St. Martin’s has grown tremendously over the last decade under the leadership of Sally Richardson and Matthew Shear. Much of the success of the company has been a result of this great partnership.” the promotion […]
Sales and Income Improve at Bertelsmann, As Mondadori Sales Decline
In a brief first quarter trading update, Bertelsmann said that sales are up 2.5 percent, at 3.622 billion euros, and group income has returned to profitability at 45 million, compared to 78 million euro loss in the same period a year ago. No divisional data is provided in the quarterly update; those details will come in their half-year earnings report on August 31.Release Elsewhere in Europe, Mondadori also returned to modest profit in the quarter of 2.4 million euros, though their sales declined 2.8 percent to 345 million euros due to lower advertising and circulation. “Mondadori said it would continue […]
Awards: New Yorker to Annoint 20 Under 40; PEN for Sports; and More
The New Yorker will inform authors being considered for their double issue celebrating 20 American writers under age 40 “on Friday, or Monday at the latest, whether they have made the cut,” the Observer reports. The magazine issue will have a June 14/21 issue date, landing on June 7. But don’t confuse the list with an idealized selection. The candidates were limited to those authors “who could provide The New Yorker with a piece of new, unpublished work” that the magazine could publish. Some authors wrote new material just to qualify for consideration.Observer The Children’s Choice book awards were presented […]
Sales Fall at Lagardere In First Quarter, As US Digital Books Hit 8 Percent
Sales at Lagardere Publishing of 433 million euros fell 6.5 percent in the first quarter (ending March 31), attributed to the “expected erosion” in sales of Stephenie Meyer books. Digital book sales, however, were “buoyant,” comprising “some 8 percent” of US revenues in the first quarter. The company says that “the current pace of growth in digital books – in particular with the arrival of the iPad” could wind up having “a very slightly positive effect” on their full-year earnings. In the short term, the publication of Meyer’s novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner on June 5 “is […]