Jeff Bezos said a lot of the expected things at the Ignition conference yesterday, a friendly interview conducted by Henry Blodget — whose Business Insider is funded in part by Bezos. The Amazon ceo is quoted widely for such standard remarks as, “Books, in my view, are too expensive. You know, $30 for a book, is too expensive.” (Bear in mind the book he means is one that Amazon pays about $15 for and then decides what to charge.) To us what’s missing is some context. Bezos also “want[s] to see millions of people living and working in space” and is […]
Bookstores
People, Etc.: Einstein Thompson Split, and More
Susanna Einstein and Meg Thompson will dissolve the Einstein Thompson Agency after the new year as they have “mutually and amicably decided to strike out on their own” after eight years working together, first at LJK Literary before forming their own agency. The Thompson Literary Agency and Einstein Literary Management will each open for business in January 2015, with both agencies continuing to work with Sandy Hodgman at Hodgman Literary for foreign rights. At Public Affairs, publicity director Jaime Leifer takes on the additional role of vp, associate publisher, reporting to Clive Priddle, recognizing her “growth as a leading voice […]
Corporate: In-Flight eBooks on JetBlue; BN Commissions 500,000 Signed Books For Holidays; Perseus Year-End View
JetBlue’s has launched their “Fly-Fi” content platform, currently available on about 35 percent of all flights as part of their rollout of inflight wi-fi, offering free content, including excerpts of more than 20 ebooks from HarperCollins, their “exclusive book content partner” at launch. Penguin Random House will join the program in the first quarter of 2015. The ebook excerpts will include buy buttons to allow customers to purchase any of the available titles from a variety of retailers. HarperCollins chief marketing officer Angela Tribelli says in the announcement: “This is a terrific opportunity for travelers to enjoy some of the best books […]
People, Etc.
Jill Smith has been appointed director of the Denver Publishing Institute, effective January 1, 2015. Smith has worked at the Institute since 2003 and is currently co-director. She succeeds Joyce Meskis, who is retiring as director after seven years (though she will keep her responsibilities at Tattered Cover Bookstore.) Rayhane Sanders will join Lippincott Massie McQuilkin as Agent, effective January 1, continuing to build her list of upmarket and literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and memoir. Most recently she was an agent at WSK Management and before that she assisted Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor. At Little, Brown, Fiona Brown has been […]
Cutbacks At Nook Include Executive Ranks
Barnes & Noble’s Nook division has eliminated an unspecified number of jobs as the company continues to manage costs in anticipation of a spinoff of Nook Media (or parts thereof) some time next year. The layoffs include three executives: Longtime team member Theresa Horner, vp, digital content and general manager of Nook Press, and one of the founding executives of Nook after joining Barnes & Noble in 2008; David Rowland, vp, ecommerce and Nook.com; and Jonathan Shar, vp, new media, who oversaw newsstand and video. Responding to our query on Wednesday, Barnes & Noble spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating confirmed by email: “We made […]
November Picks: Amazon, iBooks and Costco
In the new monthly lists, Amazon makes Stephen King’s Revival their spotlight pick for November and Lev Golinkin’s memoir A Backpack, A Bear and Eight Crates of Vodka is their featured debut. The rest of their top books for the month are: Fields of Blood, Karen Armstrong The Laughing Monsters, Denis Johnson Lives in Ruins, Marilyn Johnson Us, David Nicholls Napoleon, Andrew Roberts There Was a Little Girl, Brooke Shields Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible, Peter Pomerantsev Let Me Be Frank With You, Richard Ford The Happiest People in the World, Brock Clarke Apple’s iBooks Store also lists King, Johnson and […]