The Canadian Booksellers Association said in a release last week that parallel import restrictions on books from publishers outside of Canada are “no longer commercially reasonable and should be repealed.” CBA vice president Mark Lefebvre told Quill & Quire that the current law, particularly given the strong Canadian dollar, is “a tariff on the Canadian book-buying public.” Part of the booksellers’ argument is that customers are driven to purchase cheaper editions from US online sellers. Canadian books are generally priced higher in Canadian dollars, so that when their currency reaches parity with the US dollar the Canadian editions are considerably […]
Bookstores
Latest Barnes & Noble "Recommends": Nancy Pickard Novel
The bookseller has selected Nancy Pickard’s just-released THE SCENT OF RAIN AND LIGHTNING from Ballantine as their latest promotional “mail selection.” CFO Jaime Carey says in the announcement it “grabs readers with the main character’s personal struggle with loss. Riveting and dynamic, this moving novel will have readers enthralled from beginning to end.” The sixteenth selection in the program, it’s their first pick since Louise Penny’s THE BRUTAL TELLING last September. Release
Bookselling: Fire Claims Great Northwest Bookstore; BN Expands Free Shipping for Members
A three-alarm fire claimed Portland, OR’s rare/used Great Northwest Bookstore over the weekend. The 120-year-old building held more than 100,000 books. Owner Phil Wikelund said, “It was my whole life, in terms of what I was doing,” adding, “I will move on some way. … I’m considering this my sign that I need to retire.” No one was injured in the blaze.Oregonian As of April 30, Barnes & Noble has a new free shipping offer for its loyalty program members. They will give “unlimited free shipping” for delivery in three business days or less for all “ship-to-home” orders placed in […]
People, Awards, Etc.
At Simon & Schuster Children’s Alexandra Penfold has been promoted to editor, and Julia Maguire, Navah Wolfe and Lydia Frost have all moved up to assistant editor, while Kimberly Boyer is now assistant editor of Little Simon and Jessica Echeverria is assistant editor at Simon Spotlight. In other promotions, Catharine Sotzing is now associate marketing manager, education & library; Michael McCartney and Nick Sciacca both moved up to senior designer; and Cara Petrus was promoted to associate art director. Naomi Benaron‘s RUNNING THE RIFT won $25,000 Bellwether Prize for Fiction, “the largest monetary prize for unpublished fiction in North America,” […]
Music Players Provides eBookstore Retail Solution
MediaNet, a digital music distribution player, has launched an on-the-fly ebookstore service that may be of appeal to independent booksellers and others looking to enter ebook retailing. The company says that their open API makes it possible to have an ebookstore “installed and ready to go within 48 hours.” They are working with EPUB files (and pdf’s) and claim a catalog of over 200,000 titles. The press release and online documentation do not provide any details about terms, or how they are dealing with a hybrid world of agency and wholesale selling models, divided tax responsibilities, etc.
Today's Amazon and Barnes & Noble News
Following Engadget’s report in early April, yesterday Target confirmed that they will start selling Kindle as of April 25. But they’ll start with just their downtown Minneapolis store and south Florida (which apparently holds 102 Targets), “rolling out to more Target stores later this year.” (Does that confirm that the target Kindle demographic is retirees?) Target has a total of 1,740 stores.Release As for Nook, Barnes & Noble will start airing television commercials for their ereader this week. The WSJ says it’s BN’s first television campaign in over a decade. Unlike Amazon’s whimsical/abstract Kindle ads, the nook spot actually talks […]