Books-A-Million said sales for the third quarter ending November 1 increased slightly from the previous year, up 1.2 percent to $101.2 million. Same-store sales inched up an equivalent amount, 1.8 percent, while their net loss of $6.9 million, or 50 cents per share was almost exactly the same amount lost in last year’s third quarter. President and ceo Terrance Finley said in the release: “We delivered solid sales performance in our retail stores as we built on the results from the prior quarter. We saw positive comparable sales in the largest categories in our core book business led by Kids […]
Corporate: In-Flight eBooks on JetBlue; BN Commissions 500,000 Signed Books For Holidays; Perseus Year-End View
JetBlue’s has launched their “Fly-Fi” content platform, currently available on about 35 percent of all flights as part of their rollout of inflight wi-fi, offering free content, including excerpts of more than 20 ebooks from HarperCollins, their “exclusive book content partner” at launch. Penguin Random House will join the program in the first quarter of 2015. The ebook excerpts will include buy buttons to allow customers to purchase any of the available titles from a variety of retailers. HarperCollins chief marketing officer Angela Tribelli says in the announcement: “This is a terrific opportunity for travelers to enjoy some of the best books […]
People
Vanessa Mobley is moving to Little, Brown as executive editor, starting December 1, reporting to Judy Clain. She had been an executive editor at Crown. Jon Pott, vp, editor-in-chief of of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, has announced that he will retire on June 30, 2015. He first joined the company in 1968 as editor, rising up to become editor-in-chief in 1982. “When I came to the company I intended to stay for one year,” Pott said in the announcement, “Forty-six years later, that is a deadline I am deeply grateful to have missed.” He added: “If — as I have been […]
Judge Cote Rubber-Stamps Apple Settlement
In a hearing Friday morning Judge Denise Cote approved the settlement agreed upon between Apple, the plaintiff states, and the consumer class. As previously reported, the settlement hinges upon how the 2nd Circuit of Appeals will rule — whenever that happens — on Apple’s appeal of Judge Cote’s July 2013 verdict finding the company guilty of violating antitrust actions. Oral arguments for the appeal are set for December 15. If Apple’s appeal is denied, they will pay $450 million, including administrative and legal costs, to the states and consumer class. If Judge Cote’s ruling is sent back to her by […]
Washington Post’s Ten Best of 2014
The Washington Post announced a slew of Best of 2014 lists, including the top 50 in fiction and nonfiction, along with notable standouts for romance, mystery-thriller, science fiction & fantasy, and graphic novels. Their top ten books include Booker winner Richard Flanagan’s THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH and National Book Award nominees Emily St. John Mandel and John Lahr. The list: A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James Fourth of July Creek, Smith Henderson The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel Being Mortal, Atul […]
People, Etc.
Jill Smith has been appointed director of the Denver Publishing Institute, effective January 1, 2015. Smith has worked at the Institute since 2003 and is currently co-director. She succeeds Joyce Meskis, who is retiring as director after seven years (though she will keep her responsibilities at Tattered Cover Bookstore.) Rayhane Sanders will join Lippincott Massie McQuilkin as Agent, effective January 1, continuing to build her list of upmarket and literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and memoir. Most recently she was an agent at WSK Management and before that she assisted Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor. At Little, Brown, Fiona Brown has been […]