Obituaries Novelist Kent Haruf, 71, has died, his editor Gary Fisketjon confirmed to the Washington Post on Sunday. The new issue of Granta has an autobiographical essay by Haruf, and his novel OUR SOULS AT NIGHT is due to be published next year. Fisketjon said, “Kent had finished all his revisions and even gone through the copy editing. We had it scheduled for May, though I haven’t yet processed how this tragic news might alter those plans.” PD James, 94, the British crime writer and member of the House of Lords, died Thursday morning at her home in Oxford. She was the author […]
Archives for November 2014
Green Wednesday?
It’s more like Wet Wednesday here on the East coast, but we’re getting in the seasonal spirit: So for today (Green Wednesday, or Wet Wednesday), tomorrow (Thanksgiving Thursday), Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday, or November 26 through November 29, we’re offering a short free trial period at PublishersMarketplace.com for those who want to take a break from shopping or football. Enroll at our regular registration page, and please follow the posted instructions carefully. New registrants can explore the entire site without further obligation through Saturday night; just cancel prior to the expiration of the trial period if you do not […]
Authors In the News: Bookselling Authors, Picoult, MacArthur Fellow McHugh, and More
The American Booksellers Association says that over 400 independent bookstores will host authors who have volunteered to work alongside booksellers as part of the Indies First initiative this Saturday — which is the American Express-promoted Small Business Saturday. The ABA reports that more than 1,200 authors have enrolled in the various year-round initiatives that are part of the larger Indies First banner. They have a state-by-state listing of scheduled author appearances and other in-store promotions here. Jodi Picoult visits the UK and gives the Telegraph a candid interview she probably wouldn’t give to an American newspaper, which in turn gets pitched to a […]
Sales Uptick As Losses Flatten in Books-A-Million Third Quarter
Books-A-Million said sales for the third quarter ending November 1 increased slightly from the previous year, up 1.2 percent to $101.2 million. Same-store sales inched up an equivalent amount, 1.8 percent, while their net loss of $6.9 million, or 50 cents per share was almost exactly the same amount lost in last year’s third quarter. President and ceo Terrance Finley said in the release: “We delivered solid sales performance in our retail stores as we built on the results from the prior quarter. We saw positive comparable sales in the largest categories in our core book business led by Kids […]
People, Etc.
Shawna Mullen will join Abrams as associate publisher, adult trade on December 15, reporting to Michael Sand. Previously she was executive editor at Taunton Press and before then, editorial director at Clarkson Potter, where she helped launch the Potter Craft imprint. PEN announced a new PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize to support an unpublished manuscript that “addresses a global and/or multicultural issue,” from a writer under the age of 35. As of January 1 eBook Architects will close their Austin, TX office. The core staff, including the unit’s lead Joshua Tallent, will continue their work with Firebrand (and their FlightDeck EPUB testing and validation tool) and […]
Corporate: In-Flight eBooks on JetBlue; BN Commissions 500,000 Signed Books For Holidays; Perseus Year-End View
JetBlue’s has launched their “Fly-Fi” content platform, currently available on about 35 percent of all flights as part of their rollout of inflight wi-fi, offering free content, including excerpts of more than 20 ebooks from HarperCollins, their “exclusive book content partner” at launch. Penguin Random House will join the program in the first quarter of 2015. The ebook excerpts will include buy buttons to allow customers to purchase any of the available titles from a variety of retailers. HarperCollins chief marketing officer Angela Tribelli says in the announcement: “This is a terrific opportunity for travelers to enjoy some of the best books […]