The Washington Post named their top 10 books of the year. Three of their picks (asterisked) are on our consensus “best of the best of” Top 10 so far, which we’ll start issuing officially next week: Nonfiction BOOK OF AGES, Jill Lepore DRINK, Ann Dowsett Johnston GOING CLEAR, Lawrence Wright THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT, Rick Atkinson THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE*, David Finkel Fiction A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA*, Anthony Marra THE GOOD LORD BIRD*, James McBride HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN, Louise Penny THE SON*, Philipp Meyer THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS, Claire Messud Long lists feature the paper’s notable […]
Archives for November 2013
Amazon Acquires AudioGo’s UK Catalog; Kindle Paperwhite Rumors; and More
Amazon has a licensing deal to publish the UK back catalog of bankrupt audiobook publisher AudioGo, according to the Sunday Times. The deal gives Amazon (which owns Audible) access to at least 5,000 titles from the company previously known as BBC Audiobooks. In Amazon rumor news, TechCrunch says the company’s next Kindle Paperwhite will be sold in the second quarter of 2014 and will include a high-resolution 300 ppi screen, custom typography, and an ambient light sensor. A new BBC documentary set to air Monday evening provides a behind-the-scenes look at the working conditions of one of Amazon’s UK-based warehouses, […]
Nook Store for Windows Launches Internationally
Just a day before reporting second quarter earnings, Barnes & Noble’s Nook has finally launched their long-promised international sales rollout — which works through Windows 8.1 devices. The new app and expanded storefront is said to be available in 32 countries in all, primarily across Europe (but also Australia and Canada), and 21 languages. The focus, offering “customized local market Nook storefronts with robust local content offerings,” is on these 9 countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Barnes & Noble executive Jim Hilt says in the release, “Nook is one of the leading digital reading platforms […]
Earnings Reports: Hastings, Courier, and Osprey
Hastings reported third quarter sales of $94.7 million, down 6.6 percent, with 10 fewer superstores than the same period a year ago. Book sales declined 11.7 percent in the quarter, which the company blamed on “a weaker release schedule for new books and a decrease in trade paperback sales,” particularly given the effect of Fifty Shades a year ago as well as (when sales were only 1.4 percent in the same quarter). Books are down 11.8 percent for the year so far as well. At Courier Corporation, fourth-quarter sales rose 9 percent to $84 million and net income rose as […]
A Wealth of Options
Before you get overwhelmed by the holidays, consider putting our bigger-than-ever fifth annual Digital Book World conference on your calendar while some early pricing is still available. Running January 13 through 15, the world’s biggest trade conference on digital change adds special tracks on realistic ways to look at start-ups; organizational change management strategies and practice; an in-depth look at Amazon; higher education; technology; children’s publishing and more, on top of that traditional focus on trade publishing. That’s on top of looking at new business models; digital marketing at scale; using data to drive actual decision-making; the future of bookstores […]
Judge Continues Order Blocking Malcolm X Book
After a hearing on Friday, New York District Court Judge Laura Swain continued the temporary restraining order she first imposed on November 8, continuing to prevent the release of Third World Press’s planned THE DIARY OF MALCOLM X. The restraining order will stay in place through January 31, when Judge Swain will hear further arguments from the parties. The book was originally scheduled for publication on November 15.