Due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy, The Random House Publishing Group’s Open House, originally scheduled for this Friday, November 2, will now take place on Friday, December 14. Guests who purchased a ticket for the original date and cannot attend on December 14 can receive a refund by emailing pr@randomhouse.com. With continued internet connectivity issues related to the hurricane, ABA regrets that we will not be able to produce a National Indie Bestseller List or any of the Regional Indie Bestseller Lists this week. At Palgrave Macmillan, Dominic Knight has been named chairman and will also be executive director, […]
Archives for October 2012
People, Etc.
Random House‘s Maryland distribution center, which shut down for 30 hours Monday night because of the mega-storm, was back in full operation as of Tuesday evening. The company is authorizing weekend overtime for its fulfillment staff to attend to any outstanding back orders. Ingram also experienced a brief interruption in services due to power outages, but told Shelf Awareness its distribution center in Chambersburg, PA and print-on-demand center in Allentown, PA “are up and running on schedule,” and it is “working closely with carriers” to get service restored to areas currently made inaccessible by the storm. Most bookstores in the […]
eNews: Kobo Opens in South Africa; Brazil’s Saraiva Looks to Sell Online Division; “Patent Troll” Moves to Amazon and BN with New Suit
Kobo has partnered with South African retailer Pick n Pay to launch their devices and ebookstore there, offering books in both English and Afrikaans. There’s further news on Brazil’s leading bookseller Saraiva, whose stock jumped earlier in the month on reports that they might be in acquisition talks with Amazon. The updated Reuters account says Saraiva is looking to sell their online business only, while retaining their 102 bookstores and publishing operation. That goal would seem to fit quite well with Amazon’s continuing aspirations to launch operations, and Kindle in particular, in Brazil–though it could also appeal to other international […]
Harlequin Sales and Profits Fall Again, Blaming 50 Shades of Grey
Harlequin’s parent company Torstar reported third quarter results Wednesday. The book publishing unit had sales of $107.8 million (CA), down by $7.9 million (including $1.9 million in foreign exchange impact.) EBITDA was down $5 million in the quarter at $19.8 million, which Torstar attributed to “revenue declines in most markets and increased costs in the North American digital business.” Harlequin also incurred a $500,000 restructuring charge so far in 2012 and has laid off 8 people. As in the past, the sales drop was attributed to declines in print revenues that couldn’t be offset by digital gains, though “the shift […]
BN Faces Credit Card Suit; Readies HD Releases
The first customer lawsuit has been filed against Barnes & Noble over the comprising of customer credit card data following the PIN pad scam acknowledged by the company earlier this month. Chicago customer Elizabeth Nowak filed suit in Federal Court, seeking class action status, alleging “breach of an implied contract to protect that information and violation of Illinois consumer fraud laws.” The customer seeks unspecified damages and three years of free credit card monitoring for affected patrons. Her suit claims that “Barnes & Noble’s security failures enabled the skimmers to steal financial data from within Barnes & Noble’s stores and subsequently […]
Financial: D&M Owes More than $6 Million; Quarto Counts Votes In Opposition to Dissidents; and More
The Vancouver Sun obtained bankruptcy documents for publisher D&M, showing the company owes 143 creditors more than $6 million. The largest amount, $3.8 million, is owed to a bank and a printer. Holtzbrinck Publishing Services is owed $354,000, and a number of authors are also among the company’s listed creditors. Quarto has sent out proxy documents to shareholders in advance of the November 7 meeting and vote called by dissident shareholders managed by Harwood Capital. The company’s board says that shares controlled by directors as well as two shareholders (including retired board member and co-founder Robert Morley) provide 31.1 percent […]