In other digital announcements, the Edelweiss digital catalogs will now give publishers the option of providing selected retailers, reviewers and others access to electronic galleys from NetGalley. The first electronic galleys will be available through the program in the second quarter of 2010.
Bookstores
Renamed Kobo Spins Out of Indigo Into Separate Company; New Funders, and Partners, Include Borders
In addition to changing the name of Shortcovers to Kobo, the venture announced that it is separating out of parent company Indigo Books to operate as an independent company. A new round of funding has raised $16 million (Canadian), with $5 million coming from Indigo, now joined by Borders Group, REDgroup Retail (which currently owns the major book chains in Australia and New Zealand), and Instant Fame, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong. Those new funders will also serve as strategic distribution partners for Kobo’s international rollout. Indigo retains a 58 percent stake in Kobo, the Canadian Press reports. Borders is […]
Bookselling: Indies Discuss Kiosk Platform; West Village Store Has New Lease
A number of independent booksellers organized a Twitter discussion about what a shared in-store kiosk platform might look like. Among the ideas/wish list: letting customers access a database of bookseller reviews (the top wish from Skylight Books and Rainy Day); view digital content (samples; book trailers); and browse inventory. The manager of Breathe Books Jenn Northington posted a brief summary, and you can view the posts and participants under the Twitter tag #indiekiosk The NYT reports that Left Bank Books in the West Village, which expected to close when its lease was not renewed, has found a new larger space […]
The ABA Hotel Returns, Now in Manhattan
BEA has secured a room block at the Park Central Hotel just north of Times Square for bookseller members of the American Booksellers Association attending next year’s BEA, at rates starting at $179 a room.
Barnes & Noble Bought Children's Self-Publisher Tikatok
BN disclosed for the first time in its quarterly SEC filing that on September 24 the company bought Tikatok for $2.3 million. Tikatok.com lets parents and their children write, illustrate, and publish stories into hardcover and paperback books. Barnes & Noble says it “plans to use Tikatok as part of its overall digital strategy, expanding the company’s reach to additional parents, educators and librarians.”Filing
Bookselling: Now Official, Elliott Bay Is Relocating; Author Solutions Partners with Espresso
Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Co. has now confirmed that they will leave their 36-year-old location in Pioneer Square and move to the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood “as early as March” of next year. Owner Peter Aaron tells the Seattle Times, “Here are the factors I’m looking at: parking, population, daytime and nighttime vitality and foot traffic, the absence of stadiums and conflicts with parking and crowding,” he said. “It’s the attractiveness and safety and vibrancy of the location.” Aaron says “our financing is in place going forward” and “is thrilled about 85 parking spaces for the new location that will […]