Trade sales as measured by the AAP turned significantly negative for the first time all year in September, ratifying concerns that the lack of new breakout hits might weigh on consumer traffic and sales during the most important months of the year. Total trade sales of $618 million were down $44 million (or 7 percent), compared to $662 million a year. Adult sales, which have been soft all year, accounted for all of the decline and then some, down $58.5 million (or 12 percent). Once again, hardcover sales — or weak frontlist — fell the most, down $41.3 million. Children’s and […]
Archives for December 2014
Doerr and Mandel Vie for Top Title In Our Updated Best of the Best Books of 2014 So Far
We’ve counted 15 more “votes” since our last tabulation of consensus “best books of the year” — including, most recently, lists from Kobo, the WSJ, the Seattle Times, the Daily Beast and People magazine. But the top of the chart remains essentially the same, with titles by Anthony Doerr and Emily St. John Mandel still vying for “Book of the Year,” though Phil Klay’s Redeployment, which beat them both at the National Book Awards, has risen the most, now tied with Marlon James in third place. This year’s contest looks very similar to a year ago, when George Saunders’ Tenth of December and […]
People, Etc.
Founder and former ceo of Quercus Mark Smith will join Bonnier Publishing as ceo of fiction, for both adult and children’s books. His company Zaffre Publishing is being absorbed into the group, for “an undisclosed fee.” The Zaffre business will be expanded, focusing on women’s fiction, romance, historical fiction, crime, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror and fiction in translation. Smith also joins the board of Bonnier’s new US line, Little Bee. At Doubleday, Robert Bloom has been promoted to editor, reporting to Jason Kaufman. He has been at Doubleday since 2007. The World Cookbook Fair will relocate itself to become part of the Frankfurt Book Fair in […]
Bookselling: New Locations for Anderson’s, Third Place Books, HugoBooks; Final Patterson Pledges to 81 Bookstores
Anderson’s Bookshop will open its third location in La Grange, IL in April, the Chicago Tribune reports, after signing a lease on December 5 for the former PNC Bank at La Grange Road and Calendar Avenue. “It’s the perfect place with a vibrant, established downtown area with lots of independent businesses and a wonderful business alliance that does all sorts of great events,” owner Becky Anderson told the paper, adding the new store will be similar to the other two retail locations, but stocked according to customers’ preferences. Third Place Books will also open its third location next year in […]
The Biggest DBW Yet
My Publishers Launch Conferences partner Mike Shatzkin, who serves as program chair of the Digital Book World Conference, has his own long overview of the thinking behind the dozens of panels and keynotes scheduled for the January event. Everyone involved works hard to make the event better each year, and this line-up for our sixth annual conference — now back at the NY Hilton hotel — is truly our richest roster yet. Every year as the event gets close, people email me privately to ask for discounts, and I can tell you honestly the answer is always the same: The […]
2014 Bestseller Lists From Amazon, Indie Booksellers
Amazon announced its Bestselling Books of 2014 package — including an overall top 20, combining print and kindle sales, along with separate top 100 lists for print books and ebooks. Remember, however, that these promoted lists are for new releases in 2014 only. To find the true “bestselling books of the year,” regardless of when published, you need to burrow into Amazon’s bestseller archives for print and ebooks: There it becomes clear that John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars was really their bestselling title of the year, claiming the No. 1 Kindle slot and No. 3 print book slot (after StrenghtsFinder 2.0 and […]