Macmillan is the latest large publishing house to reorganize its sales force, telling us they “will be making a small number of sales staff reductions at the end of the year.” President of sales Alison Lazarus said that six employees would be leaving the company, with an additional staffer set to retire by year’s end. Macmillan is reducing staff “reluctantly” but “the marketplace and the decline in physical book sales necessitates a reorganization.” The children’s sales group, however, will be “adding 3 additional heads” by the end of the year or early next year as it is “a growing part” […]
Archives for November 2011
People, Etc.
Anne McCaffrey, the science fiction and fantasy author best known for her “Dragonriders of Pern” novels, died Monday in Wicklow County, Ireland after suffering a stroke. She was 85. The author of nearly 100 novels (including 30 in collaboration with other authors, such as her son Todd) McCaffrey was the first woman to win the Hugo and Nebula awards, while her 1978 novel THE WHITE DRAGON was the first science fiction title by a woman to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. Suvudu obit Greg Galloway has joined the American Booksellers Association as marketing manager and designer. He […]
Books-A-Million Sales and Profits Slide On Closing Underperforming Stores and Overall Expansion
Books-A-Million posted its third quarter earnings for the period ending October 29, with net sales dropping 8.1 percent to $94.4 million (from $102.7 million a year ago) and store comps falling 7.7 percent from the same time last year. The company suffered an operating loss of $8.1 million, compared to a loss of $2.9 million a year ago, and a net loss of $4 million, or 25 cents per diluted share. The losses included a one-time charge related to the closing of 21 underperforming stores and scheduled opening of 41 new locations throughout the month of November. The company now […]
An Off-Catalog Pelecanos Book, Priced for Discovery
Reagan Arthur Books is trying an interesting strategy with an unexpected George Pelecanos novel, which they will publish next January 23. The 272-page page WHAT IT WAS is a stand-alone, which will be published as a 99-cent ebook and a $9.99 trade paperback. And for staunch fans, they are producing a limited-edition, signed and slip-cased hardcover for $35, with all three editions releasing at the same time. (The new title was quietly listed on bookselling sites in August, though we didn’t realize the interesting price promotion strategy until this week.) Arthur says they wanted Pelecanos’ next regularly-published hardcover to be […]
People, Etc.
Brendan Cahill has left his position as publisher of Open Road Integrated Media to join Green Mountain Digital in Woodstock, VT, where he will become ceo as of January 1. (For now Cahill is president and ceo-designate; current ceo and co-founder David Roberts will stay on as chairman and adviser to the company.) Former book publisher Andy Stewart founded the company in 2009, along with Roberts and Charles Rattigan. Bloomberg BusinessWeek indicates the company raised $2.35 million from angel investors (including the founders and board members); CrunchBase says they raised $1.48 million a year ago from the Vermon Seed Capital […]
Black Friday eReader Deals
eReaders will be promoted heavily this holiday season. Some of the deals have started already and others are on deck for Black Friday. Among them, Best Buy is already selling the older keyboard Kindle 3 with 3G for $89.99, and Target will sell that model for $85 on Black Friday. Also on Friday, Best Buy will sell the new Nook Simple Touch for $79, and Target and Staples will provide $30 and $20 gift cards respectively with purchases at the $99 list price. Target will also provide a $30 gift card with purchase of the $199 Nook Color. Staples will […]