Books-A-Million said sales for the second quarter ending August 1 dipped 0.4 percent to $107.9 million. Same-store sales dropped 0.3 percent, while their net loss of $5.8 million, or 41 cents per share, nearly doubled compared to a $3 million net loss a year ago. The quarterly results also include “higher income tax expense due to the recording of a non-cash valuation allowance and the reversal of previously recorded income tax benefits.” President and ceo Terrance Finley admitted in the release that the “phenomenal sales” of Harper Lee’s GO SET A WATCHMAN — which he had earlier categorized as the fastest-selling […]
Pedroza Likely to Win $10.7 Million Or More In FIFTY SHADES Royalties, But Can She Collect?
Former co-founder of The Writers Coffee Shop Jennifer Pedroza is moving closer to receiving her one-quarter share of The Writers Coffee Shop’s profits from the Fifty Shades trilogy, though the process has been underway for many months and still is not finalized. In a Texas court hearing on Wednesday, Judge Susan McCoy heard from accountants hired by both Pedroza and defendant Amanda Hayward that 25 percent of TWCS’s profits would equal approximately $10.7 million. A jury ruled in Pedroza’s favor in February, and starting in April, Judge McCoy has been trying to get Hayward to deposit $10 million in an escrow […]
People, Etc.
Andy Dodds will join Grand Central Publishing as associate director of publicity on September 2. Previously he was associate director of publicity at William Morrow. Brette Dorris has joined Ingram Content Group as senior sales representative for public and school libraries in the Midwest. Previously he was a sales representative with Brodart and Book Wholesalers. Former Amazon Publishing employee, now executive editor at Dey Street Books, Julia Cheiffetz tells her story of employment at the etailer — from a health insurance glitch while on maternity leave, to returning to find her staff was reporting to someone else: “Jeff: You asked […]
Author Solutions Lawsuit Settled in New York; Indiana Suits Consolidated
Once Judge Denise Cote denied class certification in July to the group of plaintiffs who filed suit against Author Solutions more than two years ago alleging fraud, violation of consumer protection acts, and unjust enrichment, it was only a matter of time before that version of the case reached a natural end. On August 12, Judge Cote issued a one-page order of discontinuance indicating the suit had been settled by the two standalone plaintiffs the prior day, with the case “discontinued without any costs to any party and without prejudice to restoring action to this Court’s calendar if the application…is made within […]
People, Etc.
Ananth Padmanabhan has been appointed chief executive officer of HarperCollins India, reporting to Charlie Redmayne. Padmanabhan has been svp, sales at Penguin Random House in India. He starts at the beginning of October, after current ceo P.M. Sukumar steps aside. The company also announced the formation of a new HarperCollins India Board, which will include Redmayne, Padmanabhan, managing director of Collins Learning Colin Hughes, finance director of Harper UK Ed Kielbasiewicz, finance director of Harper India Amit Abrol, HC UK corporate development director Alex Beecroft, and managing director of Collins India Krisha Naroor. Redmayne said in the announcement: “I am delighted […]
Briefs
Liz Esman has joined Crown as senior publicist, Crown, Hogarth, Broadway Books and Tim Duggan Books. Previously she was a publicist at HarperCollins. In addition, Morgan Carattini has been promoted to publishing manager for Crown, Archetype, Hogarth, Broadway Books, Tim Duggan Books, and Three Rivers Press. The Ransom Center at the University of Texas-Austin has acquired Kazuo Ishiguro‘s archive for a reported $1.1 million. Among the unpublished works included in the archive are an early pulp western, as well as a short novel called To Remember a Summer By. Entertainment Weekly has an excerpt of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S […]