A year after the iPad–and the agency model–was launched, Random House is joining the other five largest trade publishers (whom we originally dubbed The Agency Five) and adopting that sales model for ebooks. They say in a statement: “Going forward, Random House will set consumer prices for the e-books we publish, and we will provide retailers with a commission for each sale.” The move by Random House to the new “industry standard” (for the large houses that have the leverage to use the agency model with Amazon) has been expected by those reading the quiet signals from the Random House […]
Archives for February 2011
People, Etc.
At Penguin Young Readers Group, Casey McIntyre has been promoted to Senior Publicist. Baker & Taylor and De Marque will distribute French-language Canadian e-books through Blio. Bestselling thriller writer Karin Slaughter has launched a new non-profit organization, Save the Libraries, which will host fundraising events for various library organizations. The first such event, featuring Slaughter, Kathryn Stockett and Mary Kay Andrews, will take place on March 12 in Atlanta to benefit the DeKalb County System. A second event benefiting the Boston Public Library is scheduled for June.
Penguin Gains, As Margin Moves to 10 Percent
Pearson delivered the strong results for 2010 that they have been predicting, as Penguin “achieved record sales and profits in a challenging and rapidly-changing industry environment.” The trade publishing division had sales of 1.053 billion pounds (up 5 percent from a year ago, and 2 percent on a constant-exchange-basis) and profits grew even more, at 106 million pounds up 26 percent from a year ago. And those margins “were struck after making additional provisions for a number of credit exposures in the book retailing sector, including in relation to Borders in the US.” eBook sales were 6 percent of Penguin’s […]
HarperCollins to Cap eBook Loan Licenses
As has been widely reported, HarperCollins announced Friday that for new titles released on or after March 7, library ebook vendors will be able to circulate these titles a maximum of 26 times before the license expires and libraries will need to buy a new license. The news first emerged in a letter from OverDrive CEO Steve Potash to member libraries, which at that point said the distributor was “required to accept and accommodate new terms for eBook lending as established by certain publishers.” The letter further noted that the new limits apply to “all eBook vendors or distributors offering […]
Bookselling: Waterstone’s Sales Talk; Foyles on the Move; Nontraditional Outlets; and More
Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, who has increased his stake in Waterstone’s to more than 6 percent over the past few weeks, is now reportedly in talks with the company to buy the chain outright in a joint bid with founder Tim Waterstone. Mamut has hired Credit Suisse to assist in the potential bid. ThisIsMoney.co.uk Foyles will move its flagship space from its current home on 113-119 Charing Cross Road, where it has been since 1906, to a new store down the street sometime in 2013. The nearly 75,000 square foot space, almost double the present location, was bought by Foyle […]
People, Etc.
Wendy Pallot will join Bloomsbury as group finance director on April 8, taking over from Colin Adams. Pallot is currently chairman and one of the co-founding partners of a company operating a number of local radio stations. Betty Woodmancy has joined Howard Books as vp, associate publisher. A publishing veteran of over 20 years, she has worked for Integrity, B&H, Ingram, Thomas Nelson, and Sam’s Club and Walmart. Sally Brock has joined the company as a publicist; she was at Regnery. Sarah Landis will join Harper Children’s Books on February 28 as a senior editor, working primarily on teen fiction […]