Just over two months ahead of the next BookExpo America gathering in Chicago, longtime event director Steve Rosato is leaving the show after 18 years at Reed Exhibitions. According to the annoucement, Rosato “will be exploring a new venture within the publishing industry that will be announced at a later date.” Director, Publisher & Studio Relations Brien McDonald will take over Rosato’s responsibilities “to insure a smooth transition and continuity in the weeks leading up to this year’s Chicago event.” Lance Fensterman, the Reed executive who oversees BEA now, says in the announcement: “Steve has not just served BEA, the publishing, bookselling and librarian […]
Archives for March 2016
Sales Fall at Wiley As Print Book Decline Continues
Wiley reported fiscal third quarter sales through the period ending January 31, with sales of $436 million, down $29.5 or 6.3 percent from a year ago. Adjusted net income of $39 million was down more, falling $20 million. The company took a $13.7 million restructuring charge in the quarter “related to the restructuring of our books businesses, the outsourcing of US distribution operations, and the implementation of other shared services efficiency initiatives.” In the professional development division, which includes what is left of their trade books, print book sales of $52.3 million were down 5 percent from $56.1 million a year ago, […]
New Owner for BookHampton; R.J. Julia to Manage Operation
The East Hampton, NY branch of independent bookstore BookHampton has been sold to Carolyn Brody. (Christine Spektor had sold the Southampton to former employees last November.) Owner of R.J. Julia in Madison, CT Roxanne Coady and her team will manage operations at the store. BookHampton will close “for a short while” for renovations and plans a grand opening for the summer season. Brody is chairman emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and has worked in finance and real estate in a number of roles. She says in the announcement, “BookHampton is a treasure trove, a rich environment for all the arts. I am thrilled to […]
Briefs: Schumer’s ‘Lower Back Tattoo’ Publishes August 16; Zola Books Gets More Funding; and More
Amy Schumer‘s book will be published by Gallery on August 16 — and it has retained the proposal name, THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO. Funding Zola Books closed another round of funding last week. The new round adds something under $3.4 million since the company’s last announced funding in 2013. (That last round was extended beyond the original close to add funds for their purchase of Bookish assets.) The new round was led by previous investor Charles Dolan, founder of Cablevision. Zola hopes to expand the recent rollout of their Everywhere Store widget enabling print and ebook sales by other sites. Corporate […]
Awards: PEN/Faulkner Shortlist; Women’s Prize Longlist; and More
Awards The PEN/Faulkner Award announced its shortlist, with the winner to be named April 5: James Hannaham, Delicious Foods (Littie, Brown) Julie Iromuanya, Mr. and Mrs. Doctor (Coffee House) Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer (Grove) Elizabeth Tallent, Mendocino Fire (Harper) Luis Alberto Urrea, The Water Museum (Little, Brown) Separately, LeeAnne Walters and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha of Flint, Michigan, will receive the 2016 PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award at the PEN Literary Gala on May 16. The Women’s Prize for Fiction announced their longlist of 20 books, with the shortlist due on April 11 and the winner […]
Book Sales Fell at Barnes & Noble
As usual, Barnes & Noble’s more detailed SEC quarterly filing followed their Thursday morning earnings report, and it offers some additional details about their business. Perhaps most notably, the company forget to underscore that in their most important holiday quarter, they sold fewer books. Book sales fell $12.3 million (or 1.7 percent), “on lower sales of trade and juvenile titles, partially offset by strong sales of coloring books.” The continuing mess at BN.com — where they took a site that was not performing well and performed an extensive revamp that made it worse — brought site sales down $15.6 million […]