If you had heard that Shakespeare & Co. was negotiating to occupy the Book Culture space on Columbus Avenue as we had, you’re not alone. Following news that The Strand will take over the space, former partner of Book Culture for that location John R. MacArthur was surprised as well. He wrote to the landlords, noting, “I’m obviously disappointed that you leased the former Book Culture on Columbus space to The Strand, particularly since you all repeatedly stated that my joint bid with Shakespeare and Company was your ‘first choice.’ As Tim and Bob [Quinlan] both told me, Encarnita Quinlan, […]
Archives for February 2020
Continuing Strong Sales For American Dirt, A Very Stable Genius
AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins sold another 36,000 hardcovers in its second week on sale, as tracked by NPD Bookscan. That left it as the clear No. 1 title in adult fiction — though A VERY STABLE GENIUS by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker remained the No. 1 title overall, growing in its second week with sales of 59,000 hardcovers, followed by PROFILES IN CORRUPTION by Peter Schweizer as the No. 2 title, ahead of American Dirt. For the same sales week, Bookstat.com estimated additional sales of 21,400 ebooks for American Dirt, and 16,700 digital audios. In those formats, it […]
Earnings, and Debt, Grow at Waterstones
UK bookseller Waterstones showed improving profit on relatively flat sales in their primary sales report for the fiscal year ending April 27, 2019. The UK stores and website recorded sales of £392.8 million, compared to £385.7 million in 2018, closer to the £394.8 million in fiscal 2017. Profit was £22.7 million, up from £16.3 million in 2018. Any growth appears to have come from outside of book sales, however: The company calls it “a period absent of significant bestselling titles” and notes that “sales of non-book items continued to grow in absolute terms and as a percentage of sales,” as […]
People, Etc.
Hannah Braaten has joined Gallery Books as a senior editor. She was previously at St. Martin’s. Nick Amphlett has been promoted to editor at William Morrow. Kate Roddy has joined Sourcebooks as assistant editor. At Penguin Random House, Randi Rosenkranz has been promoted to senior vice president, sales development. Jessica Wells has been promoted to senior director, customer operations.
Publishers Prevail, and Audible Will Not “Caption” Without Permission
The seven publishers who sued Audible to block their proposed Captions feature that scrolled machine-generated text along with the audio “have resolved their dispute.” The parties filed a proposed permanent injunction and request for dismissal with prejudice with Judge Valerie Caproni. The settlement represents a complete victory for the publishers — Audible cannot “caption” copyrighted content without permission. The injunction confirms Audible is prohibited from “creating, generating, reproducing, modifying, distributing, publishing, or displaying…written text derived from the audiobook versions of publishers’ works for any product or service created or offered by Audible…without express authorization from the owners or exclusive licensees […]
The Strand to Take Over Former Book Culture Space on Columbus Avenue
The Strand Bookstore announced that it will open a new location in March, occupying the space on the Upper West Side’s Columbus Avenue that was seized by the landlord for back rent owed by the previous tenant. Book Culture. The store said on Twitter, “We’re thrilled to bring all of our Strand goodness to such a vibrant community.” Landlord Tim Quinlan had said in January, “Our intention is to keep that space as a bookstore and we’re working hard to do that. It just won’t be Chris [Doeblin] at the helm.” In a press release, the Strand said the new […]