Sara Nelson has been named editorial director, Amazon.com books, responsible for “leading our editorial vision for books in the print and Kindle bookstores” a company spokesperson told PW. She was most recently books editor at O Magazine, and prior to that was editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly. Nelson, who will work out of New York starting next month, said in a statement: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to expand the content on Amazon.com and to bring my voice to this Web site visited by millions of passionate readers.” (We’ve noticed many people in publishing mistakenly think she’s working for […]
New Models
Supporters of Menlo Park Store Formalize As Kepler’s 2020 Project
Efforts to stabilize, preserve and redefine Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, CA that we covered in January have taken shape into a formal Kepler’s 2020 initiative, announced via press release and at the store’s web site. “The project aims to create an innovative hybrid business model that includes a for-profit, community-owned-and-operated bookstore, and a nonprofit organization that will feature on-stage author interviews, lectures by leading intellectuals, educational workshops and other literary and cultural events.” As noted previously, entrepreneur Praveen Madan is leading “a volunteer transition team [that] has begun work on a comprehensive development, financial and operational plan” for the […]
ABA Reports on New Bookselling Experiments
ABA ceo Oren Teicher uses one of his periodic letters to members to underscore the work the organization is doing in conjunction with publishers to test new business models: “It’s imperative that both booksellers and publishers demonstrate a clear commitment to taking out a clean sheet of paper and asking ourselves: If we were to design business models that would give our industry the best possible opportunities for success today, what would they look like?” The organization has been “asking publishers to individually identify and test their own innovative ideas that might eventually benefit all stakeholders in our industry.” While […]
Harper to Put Thousands of Backlist Titles On Espresso Machines for Bookstores
HarperCollins has announced an agreement to make the bulk of their backlist trade paperback titles available for printing and sale by US bookstores with an Espresso book machine, currently comprising eight independent bookstores and up to another eight machines at university bookstores. Starting in November, they will make approximately 5,000 backlist trade paperbacks available. (The backlist titles not included–numbering about 3,500–are ones with physical attributes that don’t lend themselves to printing on the current machine.) The POD books will carry the same retail prices as the editions fulfilled by Harper, but in a significant change, the publisher will sell the […]
Bookselling: The Travel Bookshop For Sale; Fire At Ben Franklin Bookstore; and More
The Written Word will open in Brush, CO in August in a 1500-square foot space, with owner Marlene Gippin focused on bringing a “community-based and affordable” store to the town. Fort Morgan Times A fire broke out on May 27 at Ben Franklin Bookstore in Salem, Mass., causing severe damage to the store and to its inventory of books and killing one of two cats known to be in the building (the other was still missing.) The bookstore announced earlier this year it was going out of business. Worcester Star-Telegram The Travel Bookshop in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood is for […]
Bookselling: Court Approves Davis-Kidd Deal; Monobookism; and More
Yesterday a Lexington bankruptcy court tentatively approved the results of the Joseph-Beth auction pending the entry of a sales order that’s expected Wednesday afternoon. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the deal will close at the end of business Thursday, with the new owners taking over operations Friday morning. It puts three stores in the hands of Booksellers Enterprises for total consideration worth $3.98 million, with Joseph-Beth coo Mark Wilson serving as ceo of the new operating company. Liquidators Gordon Brothers bought the Virginia store for $672,000, and will sign the space over to Books-A-Million. Founder and former owner Neil van Uum’s […]