Spokane, WA-based Auntie’s Bookstore is opening a new branch on the second floor of the River Park Square mall.Local story Following an agreement with UK booksellers, the ABA has now licensed elements of the IndieBound marketing umbrella to the Australian Booksellers Association, which will launch the program in July. Albany, NY bookseller Susan Novotny, who owns The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza and Market Block Books, is using the POD technology at Troy Book Makers (which she co-owns) to launch a publishing imprint. It’s called Staff Press Picks. She tells the Times Union, “Our staff still reads books and they […]
The Next Round of Twilight Fever
Twilight fans have been camping out for days to secure good viewing spots at the scene of tonight’s premiere of The Twilight Sage: Eclipse in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Reporter says that “not since Star Wars has fandom been, well, so fanatical about a single movie” and they also claim “the fervor of the fans is already being compared to the frenzy that surrounded the Beatles when they hit America in the 60s.” The last Twilight movie recorded a $143 million three-day opening, but it was released in November. HR expects the new movie to do better, and also looks […]
Zelnick Media Leads Buyout of Alloy
Publicly-traded Alloy Inc. has agreed to buy bought by an investor group led by ZelnickMedia in a cash deal valued at $126.5 million. The purchase price is a 14 percent premium over yesterday’s closing stock price. Alloy’s senior management is also investing in the deal. Other investors include Natixis Caspian Private Equity, Rosemont Solebury Co-Investment Fund, and GenSpring Family Offices. Former Nickelodeon ceo Geraldine Laybourne will take over as chairman of the board, with co-founders Matt Diamond and Jim Johnson staying on as ceo and coo. Former coo of Marvel Entertainment Bill Jemas is also joining the board. Strauss Zelnick […]
Book Retail Stocks Continue Slide
With continuing uncertainty about the economy and the rise of ebooks, some bookselling-related stocks are experiencing a rough ride. Yesterday and again today Barnes & Noble’s shares have flirted with their lowest levels in a year, and the stock is down approximately five percent this morning. With a market cap down to a little over $900 million, the bookseller’s dividend now provides a yield of over 6 percent. Amazon has suffered recently as well, at about $117.75 well down from their recent high of $150 a share in April though still at relatively high levels for the company. Books-A-Million is […]
People
Paul Olsewski will join Atria on July 12 as vp, director of publicity, reporting to publisher Judith Curr. He worked for 15 years at HarperCollins, including stints at the Collins imprint and Regan Books. Neil Gaiman‘s Newbery-winning THE GRAVEYARD BOOK took the UK’s equally-prestigious Carnegie Medal, though it came up short for the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustrated kid’s books (for which it was also nominated). That honor went to Australian illustrator Freya Blackwood for HARRY & HOPPER (with text by Margaret Wild). Published in the UK by Scholastic, the book is not available in the US. Penguin USA realigned […]
The Latest iPad and eReader Stats and Discount Offers, and Shambhala Works with Open Road
Apple said yesterday that they have sold 3 million iPads in the 80 days after launch. With help from Father’s Day and the international rollout, the rate of sale has increased as the third million were sold in 21 days. (The first million took 28 days and the second million took 31 days, but those sales milestones both included pre-orders–first for regular models and then 3G, and then international pre-orders.) For anyone who thinks they overspent on a Nook or Kindle for Father’s Day, right before the latest price cuts were announced, the WSJ reports that you can get a […]