Kobo is joining the ereader/tablet movement with their just-announced Vox, dubbed “the People’s eReader.” Selling for $199.99 and shipping as of October 28, it runs Android 2.3 and promises easy web browsing, e-mail, and access to “over 15,000 hot music, video and game apps.” It weighs 14.2 ounces (lighter than Nook Color or Kindle Fire), and a vibrating Kobo pulse icon signifies pages with more social activity. Kobo says it comes with three free color ebooks. Berkley/NAL has announced a digital imprint (actually they call it an “e-initial eBook imprint”) launching in January 2012, InterMix. The line will debut with […]
Favorite Julian Barnes Wins Booker After All
Breaking the pattern we so carefully documented earlier on Tuesday, the favorite has won the Booker Prize for just the second time in the past nine years. Julian Barnes, nominated three times before for the award, won on his fourth try for THE SENSE OF AN ENDING. And Knopf, which had moved up the book’s publication date from January 2012 to October 5, announced it will go back to press for an additional 40,000 copies, on top of the initial 36,000 first printing. (Among outlets monitored by Nielsen BookScan, Barnes’ hardcover edition has approximately 2,500 copies through last Saturday in […]
People, Etc.
At Crown, Rica Allannic has been promoted to executive editor, Clarkson Potter, and Kate Tyler has been promoted to publicity director, Crown Illustrated, which comprises the Clarkson Potter, Potter Craft, Potter Style, Watson-Guptill, and Amphoto Books imprints. Kim Small has also been named publicity director for Potter Style, in addition to directing publicity for Potter Craft, Watson-Guptill, and Amphoto Books. Laura Meyer will join Harper UK as chief information officer in mid-January 2012, reporting to coo Keith Mullock. Meyer, who will be tasked with the responsibility of upgrading the publisher’s systems to deal with the change towards digital, will also […]
Bookselling: Crown Books Name Lives On; More Former Borders Locations Get New Stores
Once-mighty bookselling chain Crown Books went bankrupt in the mid-1990s, but the name has lived on ever since thanks to San Diego-based A&S Booksellers, which has operated more than 300 temporary locations over the years. At the moment there are eight “pop-up” locations operating in the San Diego area, including three in locations once operated by Borders. “We are the neighborhood people, and we’re not going away,” A&S owner Andy Weiss told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s a great, independent business, but you have to know your market and what people want in a localized area.” Union-Tribune Speaking of former […]
Bookselling: Indies and BAMM Continue to Populate More Former Borders Locations
The number of former Borders locations that will re-open as new stores continues to grow. In Kingston, MA, The Book Shack will open its doors in the town’s Independence Mall as early as October 22, with owner Eric Christensen telling WickedLocal that Christensen said customers will be welcome to “connect, learn and explore,” the slogan of the new bookstore. Meanwhile Books-A-Million continues to expand, taking over a former Borders spot in Monaca, PA in mid-November, with a second store in Butler to open at a time to be determined. Pittsburgh Business Journal The Corner Stone Bookshop in Plattsburgh, NY will […]
Powerhouse Arena Cleans Up From Electrical Fire
An electrical fire and resulting electrical and water damaged forced Brooklyn event space and bookstore Powerhouse Arena to close earlier this week. Events director and operations manager Craig Mathis told us most of the damage affected office space, while the store itself and the upper gallery “were not damaged in any significant way,” and it has reopened to the public. Mathis added cleanup should be complete over the weekend and “we should be up and running as normal by Monday.”