At Catapult, Jennifer Abel Kovitz has been promoted to associate publisher and director of marketing, while Julie Buntin moves up to director of writing programs. The Costco Pennie’s Pick for December is Danielle Steel‘s Precious Gifts. This year on American Express Small Business Saturday, the Obama family visited Washington’s recently-opened Upshur Street Books. They purchased Purity, by Jonathan Franzen; Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, by Salman Rushdie; Elske, On Fortune’s Wheel, and Jackaroo, by Cynthia Voigt; A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd; Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli; Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, by Jeff Kinney; and Dork Diaries […]
Archives for November 2015
People: Tamblyn Named Kobo CEO; Wheaton Appointed COO of Penguin Random House Canada; and More
Kobo has promoted Michael Tamblyn to chief executive officer, effective January 2016, as well as vice executive manager of the Rakuten Global eBook Business (which includes Overdrive and Aquafadas). He succeeds Takahito Aiki, who remains with the company as chairman of Kobo and managing executive officer of the global ebook business. Tamblyn said in the announcement: “I am looking forward to my role in ensuring our parent company, Rakuten, achieves its vision of enriching every stage of a reader’s life. Together with OverDrive and Aquafadas, we want the best possible reading experiences for schools, libraries, institutions, corporations and consumers, enabling readers to buy […]
Books-A-Million Flat On Slightly Higher Comps
Still a publicly-traded company for now, Books-a-Million reported third quarter results on Tuesday afternoon. Sales of $101.6 million were $400,000 ahead of sales from a year ago, with same-store sales up 1.6 percent. But the company’s loss was slightly higher, by $200,000, at $7.1 million or 50 cents a share. The company attributed that to $800,000 in expenses related to the Anderson family’s pending buyout. In the release, ceo Terrance Finley said, “We saw improved sales in our core book and general merchandise categories, led by the positive impact of the growing coloring book trend. We also hosted several author events, namely those highlighting […]
Barnes & Noble 2015 Fiction Picks, and More
End of year lists will heat up after the holiday, but there are already a few picks of note to catch up on. Most recently, embedded in their new multi-category “gift guide” Barnes & Noble appears to pick their favorite fiction for 2015, leaning heavily towards what they are selling: Armada, by Ernest Cline After Alice, by Gregory Maguire The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, by Stephen King City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg Come Rain or Come Shine, by Jan Karon Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins Go Set a Watchman, […]
People, Etc.
At Perseus, Leslie Jobson has been promoted to senior manager, field sales, while Louisa Brody has been promoted to senior manager, group marketing. Interim director of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Stan Jantz will formally become executive director of the organization as of December 1. Caitlin Ellis has left HarperCollins, where she was most recently manager of domestic rights, to move to Boston. She may be reached at caitlin.ann.ellis@gmail.com. Longtime editor at Prentice Hall and later co-founder of Winthrop Publishers, Paul E. O’Connell, 90, died November 14. Amazon has leased distribution space at the “massive” Liberty View Industrial Plaza in Brooklyn‘s Sunset Park for at least […]
Supreme Court Extends Apple Appeal Deadline — And Agrees to Outside Briefs
Following the filing of Apple’s brief late last month asking the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of the ebook pricing case, the clock had been ticking on the optional filing of a response from the Department of Justice. According to the newly updated court docket, the deadline for “all respondents” was extended by about a month, until January 4, 2016. In addition, the court indicated last week that counsel for both Apple and the states consented to the filing of amicus briefs “in support of either party or of neither party,” by the same deadline.