Booked for Murder in Madison, WI is up for sale, as owner Sara Barnes is leaving the city to care for ailing parents in Minnesota. Barnes, who bought the store from previous owners in 2008, told the Daily Page she “has heard just ‘echoes of niblets’ from potentially interested buyers. The store’s best prospect may be “a consortium of friends who love books.” Owner of Harper Springs, MI-based bookstore Between the Covers Jeanne Regentin, has sold the store to Katie Capaldi after more than 10 years, Shelf Awareness reports. Capaldi is a bookseller and the daughter of the store’s children’s […]
AAP October Trade Sales Flat, As eBooks Fall to 17 Percent of Revenues
The AAP released their monthly StatShot report for October 2012, showing flat trade sales overall and a continued falloff in the growth of ebooks–which comprised just 17 percent of all trade revenues in the month. Adult trade sales of $504.6 million were up a slim $3.7 million from a year ago. Adult hardcovers declined 6.4 percent, at $224.6 million, while trade paperbacks were virtually flat at $116.8 million. As in September, eBooks comprised the third-largest segment for adult books, at $103.7 million –a 40.7 percent increase over $73.7 million a year ago. With the seasonal decline, adult ebooks are back […]
Bookselling: WSJ on ResultSource and Paid Bestsellers; UK Indies Decline
The old saw of authors “buying” their way onto bestseller lists through carefully timed bulk orders gets a fresh twist in Friday’s WSJ, which reports on the San Diego-based company ResultSource. The marketing firm, according to the paper, charges authors “thousands of dollars for its services” to buy copies of the authors’ own books–mostly as pre-orders–to boost opening week sales (and many of those copies are then returned). The service is particularly popular for business book authors, who can monetize the “bestseller” credit (even when it’s a single week on the list) for years at speaking engagements and other lucrative […]
LA Times Book Prize Finalists, and More Awards
The Los Angeles Times Book Prize announced finalists in ten categories, with winners to be awarded at a ceremony at USC campus on Friday, April 19. Margaret Atwood will receive the Innovator’s Award while Kevin Starr will receive the Kirsch Award. Finalists, who share a fair amount overlap with our Best of the Best of 2012 lists for fiction and nonfiction, include: Fiction Jami Attenberg, The Middlesteins: A Novel (Grand Central) Michael Chabon, Telegraph Avenue (Harper) Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ecco) Lauren Groff, Arcadia (Voice/Hyperion) Lydia Millet, Magnificence (Norton) The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction David […]
People, Etc.
Grand Central’s romance imprint Forever and their companion digital imprint Forever Yours will expand to publish 120 titles in 2013 and more than 190 titles in 2013 — up from 64 titles in 2012 — as part of a “major initiative” celebrating the imprint’s 10th anniversary. Forever will also add editorial and marketing staff. Founding editor of the imprint and vp, digital and paperback publisher Beth de Guzman said of the expansion: “From the beginning, Forever has always been dedicated to publishing the highest quality romance books. With the romance audience more robust and diverse than at any other time, […]
Judge Cote Sets Schedule For Reviewing Macmillan Settlement; Where Are the Discounts?
In a order issued Tuesday afternoon, Judge Cote set out a proposed schedule for reviewing Macmillan’s settlements with the DOJ, 49 states, and the civil class-action group, announced earlier this month. Per the schedule, the government must file all public comments by May 30, with additional motions on the settlement due from the DOJ by June 13. Responses to the motion are due June 27, and the government’s reply due July 8. A final hearing date before approving the settlements was not indicated in the papers, however. In a separate order, the DOJ ordered a teleconference hearing for Friday, February […]