Poets & Writers has a long featured interview with New York City bookseller Sarah McNally. The store is successful even without any ecommerce, but McNally talks candidly about her process of rethinking potential changes while remaining focused on her mission. “We opened without knowing what the hell we were doing, but somewhere along the line we’ve become a good bookstore. And I feel confident that we’re a good bookstore. But who cares in 2010? Does anyone care whether you’re a good bookstore? Is that enough? I don’t know.” McNally says her vision has been to provide “a community center for […]
Archives for October 2010
Checking the Numbers As Amazon Distracts with Press Releases
With Barnes & Noble expected to announce a color touchscreen device this afternoon, Amazon continues to push a steady stream of press releases to try to distract the media. Today they say they have completely redesigned the front end of their entire site to be optimized for iPad, though Amazon Windowshop app. Yesterday it was a Kindle classic, reaching for new ways of saying they are selling a lot while, true to tradition, not really saying anything. Kindle svp Steve Kessel declares it “astonishing” that Kindle sales continue to grow, saying the new generation devices have “sold more since launch […]
Territorial Mess, Continued: Waterstone’s Stops “Overseas” eBook Sales
The Bookseller reports that Waterstone’s has discontinued selling ebooks to customers with billing addresses outside of the UK and Ireland. Spokesman Jon Howells says “it is basically due to rights of controlling where we sell books to” adding that “this is not a temporary move.” In an e-mail to customers the bookseller said “we have had to take this action to comply with the legal demands of publishers regarding the territories into which we can sell e-books.” The decision puts fresh spin on the already-tense landscape of “export” sales for English-language ebooks from out of both North America and the […]
With No Buyer, Salem, MA’s Cornerstone Books To Close
Owner Gilbert Pili told customers by e-mail that the store will close on November 1. Pili works in the financial industry and decided Cornerstone needs a full-time on-site owner. The store notably helped launched Brunonia Barry’s THE LACE READER and “developed a devoted following as host of the city’s literary festival and numerous book signings, readings, club meetings and other events.”Gloucester Times
People, Etc.: Schneider to Retire from Random, and Distribution News
Random House Publishing Group executive director of publicity & public relations Carol Schneider will retire from the company at the end of November. President and publisher Gina Centrello writes that “her decision will bring to a close one of the most remarkable and accomplished careers, as a publicist, publicity director, and corporate spokeswoman, in our company, as well as in our industry. In 32 years, from typewriters to tweets, Carol has been a publicity trailblazer for the Random House Group imprints.” Barnes & Noble evp for digital education Tracey Weber, who started in April, is leaving the bookseller to run […]
Amazon to Borrow Nook’s Lending Feature; Company Discloses $269 Million Sales Tax Bill from Texas, and a Patent Lawsuit
On Friday Amazon announced on their Kindle forums that “later this year” they will borrow Nook’s “Lend Me” feature and make ebooks available for limited lending, using the same basic rule set: “Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable – this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.” Everyone’s having lots of fun citing Jeff Bezos’s remarks on Nook’s Lend Me feature to Deborah Solomon in the […]