Australia’s Minister for Small Business Nick Sherry said in a speech in Canberra today that he believes it is “inevitable” that online shopping would wipe out general bookstores within five years, leaving only specialist shops in capital cities. Sherry’s comments, which took place at a private sector initiative designed to encourage small business owners to boost their online presence, come in the midst of REDGroup Retail’s ongoing bankruptcy and the selloff or shutdown of various Borders and Angus & Robertson stores in the country. Steve Belton, manager of the Paperchain Bookstore at Manuka, told the Sydney Morning Herald he was […]
eNews: OverDrive Windows Phone App; Booksurfers for Kindle
Today’s eNews is decidedly app-centric, for devices bearing no relation whatsoever to Apple. Overdrive announced its Windows Phone app, enabling readers at the more than 15,000 services that use Overdrive to download EPUB ebooks and audiobooks. Overdrive Windows Phone app page Children’s author David Gatward’s new series Booksurfers, which mixes well-known stories with new adventures in an interactive manner, will be available exclusively at Amazon on various Kindle platforms starting today. Starting with the first two titles, TREASURE ISLAND and THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, the series features four children who are “forced to jump ‘into’ classic adventure stories to […]
eNews: Amazon Cuts Ties to AR, CT Over Sales Tax; Kobo eBook Lending; and More
Add Arkansas and Connecticut to the list of states Amazon is cutting ties with over new sales tax laws. In Arkansas, where the law enables the state to charge sales tax on companies who exceed $10,000 in annual sales, Amazon notified associates by email that it would terminate their contracts on July 24. And in Connecticut, affiliates will be cut off “effective immediately,” per a separate Amazon email. AP UPI Kobo is said to be preparing its own ebook lending and self-publishing services to launch before the end of the year. GoodeReader Waterstone’s sale to Alexander Mamut will not affect […]
Bookselling: Six Stores Saved From Borders Chopping Block, For Now; New Foyles Location; and More
In court papers filed Friday, Borders said that it had come an agreement with landlords of six stores to get more time to accept or reject leases. The stores in question are at Boston’s Logan International Airport, Raleigh-Durham Airport, two locations in Detroit Metro Airport and stores in Westland, Michigan, and Mansfield, Connecticut. Borders is also awaiting court approval of an agreed-upon extension for its Mt. Kisco, New York store. Reuters Foyles will open its newest (and seventh) store at the Westfield Stratford City shopping center, close to the site of the 2012 London Olympics. Independent Crain’s Detroit published a […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, June 13
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Elizabeth Black’s THE DROWNING HOUSE, the story of a young woman born […]
Ann Patchett To Open Nashville Bookstore; Morgan Adams Reopens As Wild Fig
Ann Patchett, who’s currently on tour promoting her new novel STATE OF WONDER, told the Diane Rehm Show she and Random House sales rep Karen Hayes are preparing to open a 3,000 bookstore in Nashville sometime before Christmas. Both Davis-Kidd and Borders closed stores in the city in recent months, about which Patchett said, “We can’t sustain a 30,000 foot bookstore, but we really can sustain a 3,000 square foot store.” Diane Rehm transcript Former Morgan Adams Books employee Ron Davis and writer Crystal Wilkinson plan to open Wild Fig Books in the same space on June 20. Morgan Adams […]