The American Booksellers Association held their annual meeting and town hall virtually on Thursday. Incoming president Bradley Graham at Politics & Prose presented membership data that revealed the significant toll the pandemic (and potentially other factors) has had on the sector. “At the latest count, the ABA has 1,700 member companies and 2,100 locations,” Graham reported. A year ago the organization did not report membership data because of the pandemic, so the most recent comparison is from two years ago, when the numbers peaked at 1,887 members, operating 2,524 locations. Graham said the ABA “lost 80 members unfortunately due to […]
Archives for May 2021
AAP Trade Publishers Were Up 35 Percent in March
The AAP released its Stat Shot statistics for March, showing a continuation of the very strong sales recorded at the start of the year. (More current measures, such as NPD Bookscan’s weekly statistics, show the big early gains moderating somewhat starting in mid April). Helped in part by an early Easter, overall trade sales were $685.5 million, up a big 35 percent (or $176 million) from $509.4 million in March 2020. That’s the level of total sales the trade more typically sees in September, when stores are loading up for the busy fall sales season. eBook sales of $84 million […]
People, Etc.
At Viking Children’s Tamar Brazis has been promoted to associate publisher; Aneeka Kalia to associate editor; and Meriam Metoui to assistant editor. At Penguin Children’s, Ellice Lee has been promoted to senior art director, and Kate Renner has been promoted to associate art director. Eric Carle, 91, author and illustrator of more than 70 books for children including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, died on May 23 at his summer studio in Northampton, MA. Illustrator of books including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (and Caldecott Honor recipient for Color Zoo in 1990) Lois Ehlert, 86, died on Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Independent Booksellers On Selling Pence and More
A Book Show panel with four independent booksellers on Monday addressed a variety of current issues, from the transition back to regular in-store commerce to the challenges raised by authors such as Mike Pence and Blake Bailey. Asked by moderator Ed Nawotka at PW about dealing with controversial books and authors, the booksellers illuminated multiple perspectives. Co-owner of Tattered Cover Kwame Spearman said, “A former vice president writes an autobiography — you probably have to run that and yet the autobiography is going to be about four years at a time that was just incredibly divisive. It’s going to be […]
People, Etc.
Kierna Mayo has joined Random House as vp and executive editor at One World/Roc Lit 101, reporting to Chris Jackson. She was most recently SVP of content for Interactive One. At Penguin Random House Canada, Leah Persaud will join the sales team as group sales coordinator, moving over from her position as executive assistant to ceo Kristin Cochrane, and reporting jointly to vice president of sales Charidy Johnston and group sales director Val Gow. At Kids Can Press, Yasemin Uçar has been promoted to the newly created role of editorial development director. Patricia Ocampo joins as senior editor; she was […]
Book Show Panels: The Publishing Office, Workforce Inclusivity, And More
Publishers Weekly is holding its inaugural US Book Show virtually this week. Sessions kicked off Tuesday morning with a brief recorded message from Oprah Winfrey, followed by a full day of panels. At a panel titled “The Future of the Publishing Office,” participants discussed what a return to in-person workplaces might look like in the coming months. Adrienne Vaughan, executive director and coo of Bloomsbury, said “flexibility is definitely the word of the moment.” Moderator John Maher, of PW, pointed out that Penguin Random House has already announced its intention to remain a remote friendly company, and asked how that […]