With Barnes & Noble reporting earnings on a delayed schedule this Thursday, possible news is leaking ahead of time. As the company has been looking for a way to split the BN superstores–a profitable but declining business that looks like it should be privately-held–from the Nook Media business, the logical potential buyer, Len Riggio, is emerging as a candidate yet again. The WSJ cites a source who says “a public disclosure of his interest” is expected this week, while also noting “his expression of interest so far has been tentative”. The Journal goes rather far in conjecturing that stores “could […]
Bookstores
ABA Supports “The Concerns” Raised In Booksellers’ Suit
In their first response to the lawsuit filed by three booksellers a week ago against Amazon and the six largest trade publishers, the American Booksellers Association acknowledged that the organization “was approached by one of the plaintiffs” in mid-2012. At that time, they say they were asked “to participate in an antitrust action solely against Amazon.com.” (Refer yourself back to the letter to the DOJ we cited in Friday’s Lunch.) The ABA writes that it “shares the concerns of the plaintiff booksellers regarding Amazon.com’s business practices, as raised in the recently filed lawsuit,” but the statement does not mention the […]
Bookselling: WSJ on ResultSource and Paid Bestsellers; UK Indies Decline
The old saw of authors “buying” their way onto bestseller lists through carefully timed bulk orders gets a fresh twist in Friday’s WSJ, which reports on the San Diego-based company ResultSource. The marketing firm, according to the paper, charges authors “thousands of dollars for its services” to buy copies of the authors’ own books–mostly as pre-orders–to boost opening week sales (and many of those copies are then returned). The service is particularly popular for business book authors, who can monetize the “bestseller” credit (even when it’s a single week on the list) for years at speaking engagements and other lucrative […]
Briefs: A Cover of Inferno; Audible Updates iOS Apps; Anthology to Close
Doubleday unveiled the cover of Dan Brown‘s May 14 release Inferno on the Today Show this morning. ‘”Inferno takes place in Italy and was inspired by Dante’s iconic 14th century poem of the same name. The cover features a portrait of Dante against the city of Florence, as well as Dante’s famous nine rings of hell.” Apparently Audible has not had a dedicated app for Apple’s iPad line, even though “more than 20 percent of Audible customers already use Audible’s iPhone app on the iPad. They have addressed that with the release of a new app optimized for iPads, and […]
Results Fall at France’s Fnac, As A Spin-Off Is Underway
PPR Group, the parent of France’s largest bookselling chain Fnac, reported 2012 financial results. Fnac’s story has been similar to that of big booksellers in other major territories–sales have declined (though they are still substantial, in the billions of euros) and margins have fallen as well, and the owners have been looking for someone else to take over. Last year PPR tried to sell Fnac and following what the FT called “a dearth of buyers,” they decided to spin Fnac off as a separate, standalone public company. That plan will be presented to shareholders for approval at their annual meeting […]
Bookselling: Nicholas Hoare to Retire, Close Flagship Toronto Store; Learned Owl Books Sold to Employee
After closing stores in Ottawa and Montreal in 2012, Nicholas Hoare announced late last week that he will retire from bookselling after more than 40 years in business. As a result, Hoare is not renewing the lease on the company’s flagship store in Toronto, which will close on April 1. “He has decided to mark his 70th birthday with an orderly run-off, the sale of his trademark fixtures, and a full-time move to his 350-acre property in Nova Scotia,” according to a note posted on the bookseller’s website, which adds: “Plans include a fledgling vineyard; revamping the garden; and pure […]