Earlier this summer Sourcebooks acquired Simple Truths, a nearly $10 million publisher you’ve probably never heard of — and until recently, Sourcebooks founder and ceo Dominique Raccah had not heard of them either, even though Simple Truths is based a few blocks away from Sourcebooks in Naperville, IL. (They were brought together by a local magazine.) One reason Simple Truths is little-known inside trade publishing, and a big reason Sourcebook was interested in the company, is that nearly all of their book sales are made directly, online through their own site and through corporate sales. Simple Truths publishes motivational and […]
Archives for August 2013
Briefs
Dan Crissman has been promoted to senior editor at The Overlook Press. Amy Hatvany‘s OUTSIDE THE LINES is Costco’s “Pennie’s Pick” for September. The Northern and Southern California Independent Bookseller’s Associations have come to the end of their IndieGoGo fundraising campaign for the planned California Bookstore Day — to be convened Saturday May 3, 2014. While they raised less than half the stated funding goal, their page promises that “CBD is definitely happening!”
Like AAP and BN, Books-A-Million Reports Weak Quarter
Consistent with other recently-reported declines, Books-A-Million said sales for the quarter ending August 3 fell 8.6 percent to $109.2 million. Same-store sales declined further, down 12 percent — and they had a big net loss of $9.0, or $61 cents per share (compared to a loss of $900,000 a year ago). Similar to BN’s recent report, BAMM had to adjust for “cumulative losses in recent years” and incurred higher income tax expenses, accounting for $7.3 million of that loss. The chain suffered from both missing hits but also a slowdown in digital growth. CEO Terrance Finley said in the release, “Results for the […]
Kobo Expands Device Line
At an event in Manhattan Tuesday night, Kobo introduced a revised and expanded line of devices along with a variety of feature innovations, all under the positioning that “Kobo stands for those who love to read.” As ceo Mike Serbinis said, “we are focused on the reader.” Their surprisingly-successful “high end” eInk reader the Aura, introduced in April, will launch in a new model available for pre-order now and on sale September 16. At $149 it’s $20 less expensive, and the company says it’s thinner and lighter. An expanded tablet line will offer 3 models instead of just one. They […]
Judge Rejects iOS Free Ride for Apple’s eBook Competitors w
Judge Denise Cote handed Apple some modest victories in the Tuesday afternoon hearing about her forthcoming injunction, which she expects to formalize next week. The judge said it was “unnecessary” to force Apple to let ebook competitors restore in-app purchasing without giving Apple a commission — probably the most significant outstanding item for the ebook landscape. Apple seems to have won permission in principle to ask publishers to “modify” their current contracts rather than start over again with new agreements (but that does not mean that publishers will agree to do so, or have any obligation to go along with […]
AAP Trade Sales Fell 12 Percent in April; eBooks Actually Dropped 13.5 Percent
The AAP released their Stat Shot sales data for April, collected from approximately 1,200 publishers. With difficult comparisons to a year ago, when Hunger Games was still hot and the Fifty Shades series was just taking off for Vintage, the numbers show declines across the board. Overall trade sales of $490 million were down 12 percent from the previous year. The number that will draw the most remarks is the ebook sales total for the month of $120.5 million, down 13.5 percent compared to 2012, a rare decline for that closely-watched category. But a closer look shows how the drops […]