Kent Haruf‘s final, posthumous novel OUR SOULS AT NIGHT is the ABA’s No. 1 Indie Next pick for June (and makes the iBooks Store’s top picks for May as well). The rest of the list features the following (including 5 books, asterisked, you can start reading right now in our free spring/summer Buzz Books ebook; download it now while you still can, since our big fall/winter Buzz Books collections will be landing soon in advance of BEA): Uprooted, by Naomi Novik The Sunlit Night, by Rebecca Dinerstein The Invasion of the Tearling, by Erika Johansen *The Water Knife, by Paolo […]
Bookstores
Bookselling: Sales Fall Another 4 Percent at WHSmith; Looking Glass Books For Sale; and More
WHSmith reported interim half-year results (ending February 28) with sales at their High Street stores were down 5 percent, with same store sales also down 4 percent. Profits for that segment increased 2 percent (or £1m) to £50m, as “strong gross margin performance and costs were tightly controlled” saving costs of £6m over the six-month period with another £5m set to be cut in the second half. The numbers remain consistent with their fiscal 2014 results, in which High Street store sales fell 6 percent and same-store sales fell 5 percent, with book sales declining 8 percent. Release Looking Glass […]
People, Etc.
Gabrielle Gantz joins Palgrave as associate director of publicity. She was previously director of publicity at McSweeney’s. Mia Amato has joined Start Publishing as marketing director, overseeing all print and digital marketing of the recently acquired Cleis Press and Viva Editions imprints. Her background in digital channel marketing includes stints at Harlequin, Quirk Books, McGraw-Hill and Kensington. Firebrand Technologies has hired Satvinder Virdi as senior UK relationship manager, based in London, with responsibility for sales, projects and support of UK and European-based publishing clients. He was on the project management and technology operations team at Random House. Also in Europe, the company’s NetGalley has launched […]
Meskis to Retire From Tattered Cover, Vlahos & Gilligan Take Over Ownership
Owner of Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver Joyce Meskis announced her forthcoming retirement this summer, as well as a two-year timeframe to pass over a controlling interest in the bookstore to Len Vlahos, currently executive director of BISG, and his wife, Kristen Gilligan. Vlahos will resign his position at BISG on June 12, after which he and Gilligan will drive cross-country to Denver, join Tattered Cover’s senior management team on July 1, and to acquire a controlling interest in the business on July 1, 2017. Meskis, after her retirement, will be available “on an as needed basis.” Meskis, who bought […]
People, Etc.
Luke Dempsey will join Harper One as executive editor on March 23, working out of the New York office. Previously he was non-fiction editorial director at Ballantine. Camille Perri has been named books editor-at-large at Cosmopolitan, where she will serve as the point person for all books coverage, including first serial rights, excerpts, and author opportunities, as well as attend industry events as a representative of the magazine. Previously she was assistant editor and books consultant at Esquire. Emily Williams joins educational non-profit Expeditionary Learning as manager, publisher relations. Previously she was manager, digital content at Nook, and before that […]
Briefs: Patterson’s $1.25 Million School Library Donation; Tattered Cover Moves A Location; and More
Following on his recent seven-figure donations to independent bookstores in the US and UK, James Patterson announced a $1.25 million donation to fund grants of $1,000 to $10,000 to school libraries. To be awarded on a rolling basis throughout 2015, the funds can be used for a variety of purposes, including, for example, repairs to a computer system or a school project focused on books and reading.Scholastic Reading Club will administer funding applications to its network of 62,000 schools and 800,000 teachers, and Scholastic will match Patterson’s donation with “bonus points” that teachers can use to acquire books and materials for classroom use. […]