We already have a pretty good picture of 2016 US trade book sales from year-end stats from Bookscan and PubTrack Digital, along with three quarters of data from public companies and now the AAP — still running about a month behind their own schedule — has released StatShot statistics for August 2016. Total digital sales for the month of $120 million were down 12 percent (or $16.6 million) compared to $136.6 million a year ago. Gross print shipments were $551.5 for August, compared to $501.8 million a year — with net print sales of $429.7 million up by a similar […]
Archives for January 2017
People
At Rodale, Susan Turner has been promoted to senior manager of communications and Suzee Skwiot has been promoted to online editor for books and RodaleWellness.com. At Penguin Press, Caitlin O’Shaughnessy has been promoted to assistant marketing director, and Grace Fisher has been promoted to marketing coordinator. At Random House, Barbara Fillon has been promoted to vp, deputy director of media coaching and publicity reporting to Theresa Zoro. Emily Isayeff has been promoted to publicist, and Danielle Siess moves up to social media publicist. Janea Brachfeld is being promoted to trade and special sales manager for Storey Publishing and Timber Press. At Canada’s Joe […]
Hamid Tops March Indie Next List
The March Indie Next list makes Mohsin Hamid’s new novel their No. 1 pick. The list also includes the much-anticipated new novel from Christina Baker Kline, which you can start reading right now in our February Buzz Books Monthly (along with excerpts from Elan Mastai’s debut All Our Wrong Todays, Pam Jenoff’s The Orphan’s Tale, and more.) Download it now for free at Amazon, iBooks and Google Play, and share it with your reader communities to help build buzz for all of publishing in February. And enjoy the book-discovery experience of the upcoming Winter Institute without ever leaving your chair with our just-released big Spring/Summer […]
People
Trinity University Press founding director Barbara Ras is retiring this month after 15 years. Before launching the press, which publishes 20 titles annually and focuses on nature and environmental writing, Ras was previously on the editorial staffs of Wesleyan University Press, University Press of New England, University of California Press, North Point Press, Sierra Club Books, and University of Georgia Press. At Penguin Random House, Thomas Glover was named UK sales manager for the US division’s international sales and marketing group, and Samuel Bonner will serve as UK sales and marketing coordinator. Both will be based in London, representing US titles from PRH […]
Amazon Agrees to Break eBook Contractual Strangleholds In Europe
On Tuesday the European Commission announced proposed settlement “commitments” from Amazon to give up a variety of restrictive “parity clauses” in their ebook contracts with publishers across Europe, following a “preliminary assessment” reached on December 9, 2016 concluding “the clauses may breach EU antitrust rules and result in reduced competition among e-book distributors, and less consumer choice.” The new settlement comes quickly after Amazon’s Audible subsidiary agreed earlier this month to end its worldwide exclusivity agreements on digital audiobooks with Apple’s iTunes stores. The ebook settlement includes the publication of the EC’s “preliminary view” that Amazon “may violate EU antitrust rules” […]
Reidy Pledges Yiannopoulos Book Will Not “Incite Hatred, Discrimination, or Bullying”
Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy sent a letter to authors on Monday responding to the “many comments…from authors and readers expressing concern and displeasure” about the house’s forthcoming publication of Milo Yiannopoulos’ book DANGEROUS in March by Threshold Editions. Reidy pledges that “neither Threshold Editions nor any other of our imprints will publish books that we think will incite hatred, discrimination or bullying.” In the letter, first obtained by BuzzFeed, Reidy states: “I want to make clear that we do not support or condone, nor will we publish, hate speech. Not from our authors. Not in our books. Not […]