Bookselling Laurel Book Store in downtown Oakland, CA will close in August when their lease expires, as “ongoing sales have not been enough to meet expenses comfortably.” Owner Luan Stauss writes she is “continuing to engage with” potential business partners or buyers. Initiatives Simon & Schuster is launching consumer promotion program, Book Club Favorites, designed to highlight “noteworthy book club titles…from across the company.” Monthly picks will include bestselling authors as well as new voices. Debuting in July, the first title is the paperback edition Alice Hoffman’s The Rules of Magic. Discussion questions and other content will be available on the Book […]
Archives for June 2018
Briefs
Michele Obama spoke at the ALA conference in New Orleans on Friday evening, discussing her upcoming memoir BECOMING, to be released on November 13. Obama mostly avoided politics, except to say, “In this country we’ve gotten to a point where we kind of think there are only a handful of legitimate stories that make you a true American.” Otherwise she spoke about her early summer job at a book bindery, anecdotes from her life as first lady, and her love of reading. Also at ALA, the Association for Library Service to Children voted unanimously to remove Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name from a […]
People, Etc.
At Wendy Sherman Associates, Kelli Martin has joined as an agent representing romance, women’s commercial fiction and book club fiction. She was previously a founding editor of Montlake Romance at Amazon Publishing and an executive editor at Lake Union. Nicki Richesin has joined as an agent representing upmarket and literary fiction, young adult fiction, and memoir. She previously worked as a freelance editor and at Bloomsbury in London. In a letter to booksellers about Book Expo, ABA board president Robert Sindelar addressed how indie bookstores can better take advantage of pre-orders. He said, “publishers and authors are positioning their books earlier and earlier […]
Supreme Court Changes Internet Tax Landscape, Ruling States Can Collect Sales Tax from Many Online Sellers
By a 5-4 vote the Supreme Court overturned the precedent from Quill Corp. v. North Dakota in 1992 that effectively left internet companies with no physical presence in a state exempt from collecting sales taxes. The Court took the case, South Dakota v. Wayfair, “to reconsider the scope and validity of the physical presence rule mandated by those cases.” Today’s ruling found “the physical presence rule of Quill is unsound and incorrect.” The court notes, with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the majority opinion, “The physical presence rule has long been criticized as giving out-of-state sellers an advantage. Each year, it […]
People, Etc.
Louise Sherwin‐Stark, currently joint managing director of Hachette Australia and New Zealand, has been appointed ceo, reporting to deputy Hachette UK ceo Richard Kitson. Sherwin-Stark shared her position with Justin Ratcliffe who will stay on as managing director of Hachette ANZ. Kate Cassaday has been promoted to executive editor at Harper Canada, effective June 25. Emily C. Chiu joined Barnes & Noble Education’s board of Directors. She is as a principal at Square, the payment technology company. Awards In the UK, Preti Taneja‘s debut novel We That Are Young won the £10,000 Desmond Elliott prize.
BNED, However, Ends The Year On A Positive Track
Separately, Barnes & Noble Education reported fourth quarter and full fiscal year sales after the close of the market on Wednesday. Fourth quarter sales of $358 million were up 4.3 percent, and full year sales of $2,204 million were 17.6 percent higher — both due to the acquisitions of MBS in February 2017 and Student Brands in August 2017. Net income in the fourth quarter was $17.1 million, but the full-year net loss was $(253) million due to the big impairment charge they took in March. Adjusted EBITDA of $22.2 million, was $3.4 million in the fourth quarter; full year 2018 […]