Just after Germany’s biggest bookselling chain announced losses and an unspecified restructuring, French bookselling chain Fnac is in a similar position. The group says sales at their stores fell 5.4 percent in 2011 and they “expect annual current operating income to decrease by half,” citing “a severe decrease in popularity” of publications. They say “the worsening of the economic crisis over the last six months has led to a significant decrease in household spending in Europe, which is affecting Fnac’s markets in all of the countries in which it is present.” Fnac says they are working on an 80-million-euro cost […]
Archives for January 2012
Thalia’s Parent May Sell, Spinoff–Or Just Sit Tight
Parent company of Germany’s largest–but ailing–book chain Thalia continues to be the focus of market gyration. First shares fell sharply on reduced earnings guidance, driven by Thalia’s difficulties competing with ebooks and online bookselling and unquantified “restructuring” costs at the bookseller. But then shares soared on news of a possible buyout. CEO Henning Kreke “told analysts at a meeting on Thursday that Douglas had been approached by investors several times in recent years and that the Kreke family, which has a 12.6 percent stake in Douglas, decided to initiate talks over a buyout because it sees the company’s shares as […]
People, Etc.
At Shelf Awareness, Melissa Solberg has been promoted to sales director, and Autumn Sakai has joined the company as sales associate. Reginald Hill, creator of the Dalziel and Pascoe series of crime novels, has died at the age of 75. He won the Crime Writers Association’s Golden Dagger in 1990 and the Diamond Dagger in 1995. Author Paula Deen is reportedly preparing to admit that she has diabetes and is said to have an endorsement deal with Novartis, whose diabetes medication she takes. The Daily says Deen “has been trying to keep her condition a secret, even after the National […]
Executives Now Doubt that Digital Will Improve Their Corporate Prospects
Among the multiple presentations of original research at Digital Book World later this month, James McQuivey from Forrester Research will present a new version of the survey they conducted a year ago to assess publishing executives’ expectations on the digital transition. This year’s results (from publishers said to represent three-quarters of US publishing revenues) show a distinct ebb in digital optimism. In one of the biggest shifts, only 28 percent of publishing executives now think their own companies will be better off because of the transition to digital, versus 51 percent a year ago. McQuivey’s presentation at DBW will address […]
eNews: Amazon Trumpets Kindle Owners Lending Library; Plagiarized Titles Plague Kindle Store; and More
Amazon is delighted to declare “strong customer adoption” of the Kindle Owners Lending Library and oodles of money for participating Kindle Select (e.g. Kindle-exclusive) self-published authors. Interestingly, however, the extra money that Amazon claims participants received–“an incremental 26 percent in December”–is roughly equal to the proclaimed market share of No. 2 ebook player Nook, where Select authors and publishers can no longer sell. Which begs the question of whether participants are actually making more money in toto. Even the top 10 authors–whom Amazon says earned over $70,000–only got a 30 percent boost over their ebook sales with their lending library […]
People, Etc.
Barry Landis is joining Howard Books as vp, associate publisher next week. He has been running a Nashville-based consulting firm, Landis Entertainment & Media Partners, and spent 20 years working for multiple divisions of Warner Bros., including serving as president of Word Label Group. Stephanie Beam has joined Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division as new merchandising manager, eBooks. Previously, she has worked as national account sales manager at Sterling Publishing and Random House. At Sony, she will manage the Reader Store site merchandising and act as relationship manager for publishing partners. At Egmont USA, Greg Ferguson has been promoted to […]