The sales department is in transition for a variety of reasons–declining bookstores, increased digital sales, an emphasis on just-in-time inventory, and more. At Digital Book World on Tuesday, David Wilk queried Rich Freese from NBN, Alison Lazarus from Macmillan, Michael Selleck from Simon & Schuster and Jaci Updike from Random House on the changes underway and ahead. Clearly the traditional sales rep is turning into more of a local marketing officer, though the exact expression of how that’s working varied among the participants. Lazarus expressed it most dramatically, saying “we’re telling our physical sales reps, ‘don’t sell so many of […]
Archives for January 2011
Analysts See Low Profits from eBooks for Amazon and BN
A Digital Book World panel on Tuesday presenting how Wall Street views bookselling and the future of bricks and mortar brought an outside dose of reality via Goldman Sachs analyst Matt Fassler and Susquehanna Financial Group’s Marianne Wold. Fassler covers Barnes & Noble’s stock (and used to cover Borders when they were big enough to be worth following), but is down on their prospects: “There are no safe investments, but publishers and booksellers are something to avoid” in his assessment, because they don’t control their own destiny. He believes that, while the retailer’s investment in Nook was necessary and prudent, […]
Indie Bookstores Stay Optimistic in These Digital Times
It was, as expressed in the Q&A session, “a refreshingly upbeat and optimistic panel.” And indeed, the stereotypical gripes and whines that are too often associated with independent bookstores, for legitimate and not-so-legitimate reasons, were not really in evidence Tuesday afternoon. That isn’t to say this was a complaint-free session, as WORD Bookstore’s Stephanie Anderson, Andy Laties of the Eric Carle Museum Bookstore, and Nicole Magistro of The Bookstore of Edwards were pointed in what frustrations they have with publishers, most notably the reluctance to move to more efficient billing practices and the price disparity on non-agency e-books.) Shelf Awareness […]
People, Awards, Etc.: Surprise Winner for the Costa, and More
The overall Costa Award went to poet Jo Shapcott for Of Mutability, prevailing over the favored Edmund de Waal memoir, The Hare With the Amber Eyes. Guardian Lucinda Blumenfeld has left Fletcher & Company and launched Lucinda Blumenfeld Literary Consulting (LBLC), an editorial and marketing firm for writers and authors. She will continue to represent select writers in both fiction and nonfiction. Plume senior editor Denise Roy is now serving as a senior editor at Dutton as well. She joined Penguin in 2009 after fifteen years at Simon & Schuster. Zachary Wagman is joining the Crown Trade group as editor on February 1, […]
Executives Open Digital Book World Celebrating A “Healthier” Digital Market
“We’ve heard it before,” my quotable neighbor said of this morning’s CEO panel at a packed Digital Book World, “but they said it well.” David Nussbaum, the ceo of the conference organizer F+W Media, led the discussion with Jane Friedman (Open Media), Mike Hyatt (Nelson), Brian Napack (Macmillan) and David Steinberger (Perseus). In contrast to the same time a year ago, the panel’s executives were generally pleased to find themselves in the middle of a digital market that is broadening. Echoing Steve Jobs’ remarks on the introduction of the iPad, Brian Napack said, “Amazon did us a great favor by […]
Some Hints on Google eBooks
Also at this morning’s Digital Book World 2011, Google Books product manager Abe Murray presented the first (albeit scant) statistics and user insights into their recently-launched ebooks venture. Their bestseller list so far looks like the same Larsson-heavy list you find elsewhere, and on a category basis, the topselling subjects by volume are romance, biography, thrillers, finance, young adults, sci-fi/fantasy, politics and diet/fitness. Murray said they have well over 1 million apps installed, and “blew past this number within weeks of launch.” They have added 60 resellers since launch, now at 180, indicating that independent booksellers are continuing to enlist […]