Founding ceo of Bookish.com Paulo Lemgruber is leaving to “pursue other opportunities,” as the high-profile book-focused site is late in launching. Carolyn Marks is taking over as chief executive. In January she was named general manager of parents and lifestyle digital at Meredith, and she was general manager at The Daily Beast. In other personnel news, Stephanie Swane has been promoted to senior sales manager at becker&mayer! Books, driving the sales strategy for both the juvenile and adult packaging groups. She will focus on selling book proposals to US trade publishers and retailers, while developing new ideas for titles and […]
Archives for October 2011
When Authors Run the Numbers on Argo Navis Proceeds
What’s going to happen when authors analyze the terms being offered by Perseus’s new Argo Navis? It has been positioned as sounding like Amazon’s KDP program (“Argo Navis offers these authors a 70/30 revenue split”) and the NYT obligingly declares it “a favorable revenue split that is unusual in the industry,” comparing the proceeds to royalties rather than other sef-publishing and distribution arrangements. But for ebooks that qualify for the highest rates from KDP and PubIt, it looks as if Argo Navis will yield gross proceeds that are just half of what authors would get when they participate in those […]
Bloomsbury Readies Digital Distribution Service
As Perseus expands their digital distribution to agents and authors, Bloomsbury is preparing a direct competitor to Constellation, Faber Factory and other ebook distribution platforms for publishers. Launching soon, the new service, called Bloomsbury Connect, has been in development for months under the direction of managing director, group sales and marketing Evan Schnittman. It’s a companion to the Bloomsbury Reader program, announced in April, which launched last week with almost 600 titles. As Schnittman explains, Bloomsbury Connect is a “service solution,” focused on publishers, while Bloomsbury Reader is a full “publishing solution” for out-of-print titles, focused on agencies and estates. Bloomsbury Connect […]
Lonely Planet Founders Buy Canongate’s Stake in Text Publishing
Founders of Lonely Planet Maureen and Tony Wheeler have bought Canongate’s stake in Text Publishing for an undisclosed sum. Michael Heyward and Penny Hueston, who bought Text in tandem with Canongate in 2004 and created a joint venture whereby Text also published Canongate titles in Australia, will retain their share in the company and Heyward will stay on as publisher and managing director. Heyward added that Text and Canongate “will continue to work closely together to acquire books and authors.” “Our decision to sell our stake in Text was a strategic one that will enable us to focus more of our […]
Bookselling: Stores Open in Wasilla, AK and Katonah, NY; More BAMM Stores; And More
Buy the Book will open in Wasilla, AK this November in a location previously occupied by a Waldenbooks, with staff including former Walden employees. Co-owner Maria Clark told the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman a customer pitched in $25,000 in seed money to re-open the store as an independent shop; its previous incarnation was “profitable” despite the problems of its parent company. Children’s bookstore Little Joe’s Books will open on October 6 in Katonah, NY above its sister store, NoKa Joe’s restaurant and café. Owner Jennifer Cook told the Daily Bedford that residents most wanted to see a bookstore open in their […]
Borders Website Will Redirect to BN by October 14
As part of a $13.9 million deal approved in federal bankruptcy court late last month, Borders’ website will shut down by October 14 and redirect to BN.com. Over the weekend Barnes & Noble ceo William Lynch wrote a letter to Borders customers outlining the switch — and how to opt out if need be — as well as some words about the end of what was once the second-largest bookstore chain in the country. “Our intent in buying the Borders customer list is simply to try and earn your business,” Lynch wrote in the letter, which went to more than […]