Doubleday unveiled the cover of Dan Brown‘s May 14 release Inferno on the Today Show this morning. ‘”Inferno takes place in Italy and was inspired by Dante’s iconic 14th century poem of the same name. The cover features a portrait of Dante against the city of Florence, as well as Dante’s famous nine rings of hell.” Apparently Audible has not had a dedicated app for Apple’s iPad line, even though “more than 20 percent of Audible customers already use Audible’s iPhone app on the iPad. They have addressed that with the release of a new app optimized for iPads, and […]
Archives for February 2013
People, Etc.
Lonely Planet recently announced a number of promotions and new hires. Leslie Davisson has been promoted to director, trade channel marketing and national accounts, while Gerilyn Attebery moves up to senior design manager and Rana Freedman has been promoted to senior manager, consumer marketing and communications. Jennifer Pentes has joined as production lead overseeing the new US-based Client Solutions delivery team. Previously she was assistant director, creative services and marketing, at Sundance Institute. Rachel Berg has been named content producer, previously principal of editorial & promotional content at Travelocity. Finally, Clare Chadwick has moved from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne office to […]
Results Fall at France’s Fnac, As A Spin-Off Is Underway
PPR Group, the parent of France’s largest bookselling chain Fnac, reported 2012 financial results. Fnac’s story has been similar to that of big booksellers in other major territories–sales have declined (though they are still substantial, in the billions of euros) and margins have fallen as well, and the owners have been looking for someone else to take over. Last year PPR tried to sell Fnac and following what the FT called “a dearth of buyers,” they decided to spin Fnac off as a separate, standalone public company. That plan will be presented to shareholders for approval at their annual meeting […]
Buzz Builds for Winter Institute Titles, As Two “Life After Life” Novels Share April Indie Next No. 1 Honors
The American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next List for April will name two books with the same title as the shared No. 1 pick: LIFE AFTER LIFE — both Kate Atkinson’s novel, publishing April 2 from Reagan Arthur Books, and Jill McCorkle’s novel of the same name, coming from Algonquin on March 26. The ABA says this is the first time two books have shared the No. 1 slot (let alone two books with the same title). “The reason is that they had an equal amount of support from the indie booksellers.” In a preview of the ABA’s Winter Institute, starting […]
Germany Investigates Working Conditions of Temporary Amazon Employees; UK’s Daunt Returns to Criticizing His eBook Partner As “Job Destroyer”
Working conditions at Amazon’s seven distribution facilities in Germany has been in the spotlight since a German TV documentary investigation aired last week. The show focused on the treatment of temporary holiday workers–who are citizens of other European countries–and cited harsh practices from black-uniformed guards employed by security sub-contractor Hensel European Security Services (hired on Amazon’s behalf by an employment agency, the BBC says). Germany’s Deutsche Welle explains, “Instead of being employed by Amazon, as initially promised, the workers are employed by a temp agency, which normally means lower wages. While working, the temp workers are subjected to strict observation […]
Bookselling: Nicholas Hoare to Retire, Close Flagship Toronto Store; Learned Owl Books Sold to Employee
After closing stores in Ottawa and Montreal in 2012, Nicholas Hoare announced late last week that he will retire from bookselling after more than 40 years in business. As a result, Hoare is not renewing the lease on the company’s flagship store in Toronto, which will close on April 1. “He has decided to mark his 70th birthday with an orderly run-off, the sale of his trademark fixtures, and a full-time move to his 350-acre property in Nova Scotia,” according to a note posted on the bookseller’s website, which adds: “Plans include a fledgling vineyard; revamping the garden; and pure […]