The AAP released their monthly StatShot statistics for November 2016, which provide solid evidence of the disconnect between topline AAP data and actual marketplace results that we have been talking about for a while now. Looked at in isolation the headline news sounds positive: Net trade sales as measured by the AAP rose 8.6 percent in November, up $63.3 million, to $732.1 million for the month. Yet we know from Bookscan (and Barnes & Noble) that actual consumer sales of books fell sharply in the first couple of weeks around the election, and for the four sales weeks ending November 27, […]
Archives for April 2017
People, Etc.
By a narrow margin of 69 votes, consultant and president of non-profit Information New Wave Loida Garcia-Febo was elected president-elect of the American Library Association. She will serve as president-elect for one year before taking over as president at the 2018 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. Emma Berry has been promoted to editor at Crown. Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has been meeting with prospective literary agents, the Hollywood Reporter notes, “to discuss a book that is envisioned as a reflection on how her personal and professional lives collided during the campaign.” Clinton is said to have blessed the project. The New York Public […]
Bezos Tells Shareholders and Employees It Will Never Be Day 2
Amazon ceo Jeff Bezos’s annual letter to shareholders focuses on particulars of his management philosophy more than anything, but it starts with his answer to a common question: “‘Jeff, what does Day 2 look like?'” “That’s a question I just got at our most recent all-hands meeting. I’ve been reminding people that it’s Day 1 for a couple of decades. I work in an Amazon building named Day 1, and when I moved buildings, I took the name with me. I spend time thinking about this topic. “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed […]
People, Etc.
Bethany Buck has joined Bloomsbury Children’s as editorial director. She was editorial director at Skyhorse’s children’s imprint Sky Pony Press. Harper Christian announced three leadership changes to help “aggressively pursue additional content sources.” Daisy Blackwell Hutton has been promoted to vice president and publisher for the nonfiction W Publishing Group imprint. Amanda Bostic will become the new fiction publisher, while Matt Baugher will take on the new role of senior vice president of author and partnership development. Quiera Hall has joined Open Road as business development operations associate, reporting to Caroline Ziegler. Baker Literary Scouting has been appointed US scout for Beijing […]
People, Etc.
At Grove Atlantic, Katie Raissian has been promoted to editor, while Allison Malecha moves up to associate editor. Zachary Pace and Nicole Nyhan have each been promoted to assistant editor. Gretchen Mergenthaler has been promoted to art director and Cindy Hernandez joins as junior designer. Open Road has announced a number of promotions. Renata Sweeney has been promoted to associate marketing manager; Greta Shull and Paola Crespo have each been promoted to marketing associate; and Daniel O’Connor has been promoted to marketing coordinator. Mauricio Diaz has been promoted to art director, while Amanda Shaffer has been promoted to designer. Matthew […]
Recorded Books Renames Itself RBmedia
Recorded Books acquired the Audiobooks.com retail platform on December 31, 2016 but has officially “announced” the acquisition on Tuesday. (In turn, the publishing arm of Audiobooks.com now operates as Novel Audio.) Recorded Books has also unveiled a broader rebranding of the parent company as RBmedia going forward. The new “unified brand” will “help us position the benefits of the combined organization and product lines to the market.” CEO Tom MacIsaac says in the announcement, “RBmedia is the only company that brings together all three key elements of spoken audio and digital media distribution. Not only do we produce top-quality spoken audio content, we’ve also […]