Clark Kepler, 53, intends to retire from Menlo Park, CA-based bookstore Kepler’s after 32 years as manager, with the store’s 30 employees “very much involved in the change process to redefine Kepler’s and their jobs, so the final outcome of the new model will be determined by all of the stakeholders, including the employees.” Kepler’s nearly closed for good in 2005 until they raised nearly $1 million from investors and enrolled thousands of “supporting members,” but the store is still “barely breaking even,” despite having expanded event store space (including charging for events), among other changes. The Almanac News reports […]
Archives for January 2012
AAR Advises Agents Engaging In ePublishing
After a year in which a number of agents began helping their clients epublish directly and through non-traditional intermediaries, the Association of Authors’ Representatives has begun the new year by underscoring a few core principles to their members in an e-mail sent last week. AAR vp (and head of DeFiore and Company) Brian DeFiore tells us that “what was sent to member agents was a clarification to answer some questions that have come up.” As a matter of policy, their basic position is that “the fiduciary responsibility of the member to the client does not change” and the canon as […]
E Ink Sales Drop Far More Than Expected; Kickstarter Funds Over $5 Million of Publishing
E Ink Holdings surprised Asian stock markets Monday with worse-than-expected December sales, with the company’s shares dropping the maximum allowed in a single day. December sales declined 55 percent from the prior month, and were down 57 percent compared to December 2010. November’s sales were 33 percent lower than October, but chairman Scott Liu indicated that all of their holiday orders had been shipped early “in response to customer demands,” with “a portion of November orders [going out] in October, which contributed to the fact that November sales revenues were lower than earlier expectations. But December’s sales were far below […]
People: Chase, Farley, Ditlow, Deen and More
Farley Chase has formed Chase Literary Agency after nearly eight years as a literary agent with the Waxman Literary Agency. He will continue to represent the foreign rights for The Waxman Literary Agency. Former president and publisher of Macmillan Children’s Dan Farley is joining education technology platform startup SwoopThat as a principal and evp, business development. SwoopThat aims to increase textbook affordability for students and enhance college bookstore revenues by helping them adjust to the quickly changing coursebook market. “This is a venture that can, proverbially, make a difference. And, it’s fresh, exciting, and full of opportunity,” Farley said in note to colleagues. He […]
Daniel Tisch Reports 5.1% Holding in Barnes & Noble
The Tisch family is the latest group of wealth investors to take in interest in Barnes & Noble. Daniel Tisch filed the required SEC form to disclose that he now holds a 5.1 percent stake in the bookseller (or nearly 3.1 million shares). A little fewer than half the shares are held by his personal investment company, TowerView, while the rest of the stake is controlled by Four Partners, another investment company owned by all four Tisch brothers and run by Thomas Tisch, though Daniel Tisch has “sole voting power and sole investment power” over the entire holding. Tisch has […]
eNews: Safari Acquires Threepress and Ibis, and More
Threepress Consulting and their Ibis Reader have been acquired by Safari Online. Threepress founder Liza Daly (who created our first BEA web app) writes: “Safari provides us with an unparalleled reserve of content, sales team, marketing savvy, and publisher relationships. We’re bringing our focus on standards, accessibility, interactivity, and emerging technology.” Daly will be vp of engineering at Safari. The company writes, “They’re joining us as part of an acquisition that brings a rich set of web-based ebook reading technology to Safari, along with a talented engineering team that includes some of the world’s foremost engineers working with EPUB, ebooks, […]