With the rapid expansion of ebook market, the WSJ has a prominent story looking at the corollary of greatest concern in book publishing: to what extent will ebooks push bookstores out of business? (There is a self-reinforcing cycle in which, if rising ebook sales lead to store closings, still fewer print books will sold as result, further propelling ebook market share.) Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio concedes that “the store model is under pressure, whichever way you look at it.” Over the next three or four years, “Riggio says, a different, more diverse Barnes & Noble retail store will […]
Bookstores
Borders Finds Their Extra $25 Million In Financing As LeBow All But Takes Over
When Borders refinanced their revolving credit agreement in March and lined up a new $90 million term loan (at minimum interest of 14.75 percent), they were required to raise at least $25 million in new equity or else that term loan would have its borrowing base reduced by $10 million. This morning the company announced that financier Bennett LeBow, formerly known as as a “corporate raider” and currently chairman of holding company Vector Group, principally a tobacco company with other interests including Douglas Elliman real estate, has purchased $25 million of stock at $2.25 a share through an investment company. […]
Books-A-Million Comp Sales Down 3.6 Percent
Same-store sales fell 3.6 percent at Books-A-Million in their fiscal first quarter, ending May 1, as total sales of $117 million decline one percent. Net income of $2 million was just $100,000 lower than a year ago. CEO Clyde Anderson says, “While we continued to face a challenging sales environment during the period, I’m pleased that our ongoing discipline in cost control and inventory management delivered solid financial results.”Release
Barnes & Noble Launches Online Self-Publishing Program, PubIt!
BN has finally announced an electronic self-publishing program via BN.com and their ebookstore to compete with Amazon and others, “coming in summer.” The company announced scant details, but assures independent publishers and individual authors that they “will appreciate PubIt!’s simple and competitive royalty model and compensation process.” As described on their placeholder web page, they will convert digital files to EPUB. The program is pitched for both ebooks and broader “digital content.” Director of digital products Theresa Horner is the BN executive quoted in the release.Release
Amazon Adds Crossing, New Imprint for Fiction In Translation
The etailer announced a new imprint today, Amazon Crossing, which will publish English-language translation of works from other languages, starting with Tierno Monénembo’s French novel (and winner of the prix Renaudot) THE KING OF KAEL, translated by Nicholas Elliott. Run by vp of books Jeff Belle, he says “our international customers have made us aware of exciting established and emerging voices from other cultures and countries that have not been translated for English-language readers.” As with their Encore program, they say that they will “use customer feedback and other data from Amazon sites around the world to identify exceptional books […]
Bookselling: ABA and ABC Formalize Process of Considering Merger
The ABA and the ABC (Association of Booksellers for Children) have agreed on a process “to generate a formal plan for how ABC will be integrated into ABA should a merger vote be approved.” They hope to put a proposal to a vote of ABC membership in September and, if approved, expect a merger would be implemented at the beginning of 2011.BTW