Hastings Entertainment reported a drop in net income for its first quarter, down to $400,000 (or 5 cents per share) compared to $1 million (or 11 cents per share) a year ago. Total sales declined by 3.8 percent, to $124.1 million. Overall book comps decreased 9.1 percent for the quarter; new book sales fell 8.6 percent in the period, used books sales declined 19.6 percent, and value books gained by 8.7 percent. Publishers are blamed for a “weaker slate of new book releases.” The retailer says there was a 22 percent drop in “titles for which we purchase more than 1,000 copies.” […]
People: Davidar Starts New Publishing House in India, and More
Former Penguin Canada publisher David Davidar, who left the company and the country under a cloud of controversy after sexual harassment allegations, has joined forces with Rupa Publications India to start a new publishing house, the Aleph Book Company. The new venture will begin with a small and select group of fiction and non-fiction titles (evidently mirroring Faber and Faber in the UK.) Said Davidar in a statement: “I am thrilled to join hands with Rupa to launch this venture. We will be looking be ensure that each book we publish makes its mark and to that any title that […]
eNews: $1 Million More in Funding for Figment; Millions of Images from Yale
Teen writing site Figment has secured an additional $1 million in angel investor funding, which will go to developing new sales, marketing and distribution models and a marketplace where authors and publishers can sell their works. Figment will also move into publishing this fall with Blake Nelson’s DREAM SCHOOL, a sequel to his novel GIRL serialized in the 1990s by Sassy magazine. Nelson and Figment will split royalties equally, and PGW will distribute the book online and as a limited-edition print book. PaidContent Yale University has made its entire digital image collection available online for free and for unlimited use. […]
Senate IP Legislation Back on the Table, but AAP Objects That Cyberlockers Aren’t Mentioned
Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy re-introduced a new version of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) that was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last year but stalled out afterwards. The PROTECT IP Act has a narrower focus, which would allow the government to go after “rogue websites” containing pirated or infringed-upon content, and would allow for court orders against ISPs, search engines, ad networks and online payment processors to stop supporting such sites and for Google to stop linking to them. “The PROTECT IP Act targets the most egregious actors, and is an important first step to putting […]
Briefs: CEO Letters from Borders, Lonely Planet; Zondervan Warehouse to Close; and More
In the wake of yesterday’s news that Lonely Planet would shift most of its web operations to the UK and lay off approximately 70 employees, CEO Matt Goldberg went into more detail about the reorganization in a memo to staff. In addition to reiterating the reorganization causes – losing $13 million on foreign currency due to a strong Australian dollar and reducing costs by 18 percent – Goldberg indicated the company’s digital revenues climbed to 21 percent from from 9 percent over the past four years, “which indicates our digital business has momentum.” Borders CEO Mike Edwards is taking his […]
People, Etc.
SVP and chief accounting officer for Scholastic John Giraldo will leave the company on June 1 for a new position, according to an SEC filing Thursday afternoon. Current evp and cfo Maureen O’Connell will take on Giraldo’s duties until a replacement is found. Bloomsbury associate publisher Sabrina Farber will leave the company at the end of this month. She has worked there since 2003. Longtime ABA staff member Mark Nichols‘ title has changed from industry relations officer to Development Officer. “The change was made to better reflect Nichols’ role in the association.” The ABA and On Demand Books have entered […]