Amazon chose Exit West by Mohsin Hamid as their spotlight pick for March, and their featured debut is One of the Boys by Daniel Magariel. The rest of the etailer’s best books of March list features: White Tears, Hari Kunzru The Night Ocean, Paul LaFarge Irresistible, Adam Alter Learn Better, Ulrich Boser All Grown Up, Jami Attenberg Word by Word, Kory Stamper The Wanderers, Meg Howrey The Rules Do Not Apply, Ariel Levy Barnes and Noble’s best new fiction list for March recommends: Dead Letters, Caite Dolan-Leach The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Lisa See In the Name of the Family, Sarah […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: Amazon Opens In Dedham, Waterstones Criticized for Modest Stores “Posing” As Indies
Amazon’s previously-announced 5,800-square-foot bookstore at Legacy Place in Dedham, MA will open on Tuesday, after holding a preview on Saturday. As previously announced, this is Amazon’s first bookstore to open on the East Coast (and fourth to open so far), with at least three more “coming soon” in Lynnfield, MA; Paramus, NJ; and Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. Waterstones is receiving criticism in British media for small-town bookstores they have opened over the past 3 years, charged with “posing as independent bookshops to avoid the backlash against the homogenization of Britain’s high streets,” the Guardian writes. The stores, which are in Rye, Southwold and Harpenden, notify customers of their corporate affiliation with […]
Family Christian Stores to Liquidate and Close
The largest chain of Christian book and merchandise stores Family Christian announced that it will liquidate its assets and close all of their outlets, comprising over 240 stores in 36 states. The statement did not provide a timetable for the liquidation. President Chuck Bengochea says in the press release, “We had two very difficult years post-bankruptcy. Despite improvements in product assortment and the store experience, sales continued to decline. In addition, we were not able to get the pricing and terms we needed from our vendors to successfully compete in the market.” The chain was bought in bankruptcy reorganization in August 2015, […]
People, Awards: LA Times Prize Announcements, and More
The Los Angeles Times announced book prize finalists in 11 categories — including a new award for autobiographical prose named in honor of Christopher Isherwood — with the winners to be named April 21. Thomas McGuane will receive the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. Among the nominees are: Fiction Garth Greenwell, What Belongs to You (FSG) Adam Haslett, Imagine Me Gone (Little, Brown) Lydia Millet, Sweet Lamb of Heaven (Norton) Zadie Smith, Swing Time (Penguin Press) Dana Spiotta, Innocents and Others (Scribner) First Fiction Sara Baume, Spill Simmer Falter Wither (HMH) Mark Beauregard, The Whale (Viking) Nathan Hill, The Nix (Knopf) Idra Novey, Ways […]
Corporate: Adams Acquisition, Capstone Sells Digital Platform, and More
Simon & Schuster’s parent company CBS filed their annual report with the SEC at the end of last week. While it does not directly state the purchase for Adams Media, acquired in the fourth quarter of 2016, a little arithmetic yields the answer: S&S paid approximately $42 million to purchase the publishing unit from FW Media. CBS spent a total of $92 million on acquisitions during the year, and in the first quarter they paid approximately $50 million to acquire 247Sports, a digital media business. In other M&A news, Capstone formally announced the sale of their digital learning platform myON to tech investment […]
People, Etc.
George Coe is being promoted to coo for Follett Corporation and Baker & Taylor, effective March 31. He has been Follett Group President, Baker & Taylor and Follett School Solutions since the acquisition of Baker & Taylor in April 2016 — prior to which was president and ceo of Baker & Taylor. Follett ceo Ray Griffith said in the announcement, “George brings an outstanding track record of business leadership to Follett at a time of incredible growth potential for the company.” Random House Children’s Books has promoted Allison Judd to senior publicist. At Crown, Will Wolfsau has been promoted to associate editor. In the UK, […]