Outgoing ABA president Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore convened this year’s annual meeting by saying “I probably don’t have to tell you that this has not been a easy year. It’s been a tough one for everyone in this association and we have done what we can to adjust.” And she underscored that both the organization and its members “have no intention of giving up the good fight, maintaining our market, and our place in the community’s heart.” In reviewing the year’s activity, Shanks discussed the search for a new ceo to replace Avin Domnitz and noted “we interiew […]
Bookstores
"Make Books" Makes Some Employees Vent
Just like the old adage about the production of sausages (and legislation), the making of Borders’ recent initiative to focus on a few selected “make books” has produced a venting of angry Internet posts from anonymous people who say they are employees (and former employees) of the chain. The intensity and number of the posts rose after the AP story on the program earlier this month, and a brief PW post summarizing the wire story. The posters allege intense pressure from Borders headquarters and store management to meet sales quotas on the make books. Many claim that early on executives […]
BN Finally Launches a Competitor to Audible
Barnes & Noble.com has launched an online mp3 audiobook, offering over 10,000 titles at an “average price” of $10 to $20 per download. A launch promotion offers nine free titles, including: The Babysitter’s Code by Laura Lippman, Great Day by Kurt Vonnegut, Super Goat Man by Jonathan Lethem, Best New Horror by Joe Hill, Fathers by Alice Munro, Truth or Dare by Elizabeth Berg, Ysrael by Junot Diaz, and Merrano of the Dry Country by Louis L’Amore. EVP of e-commerce Tom Burke calls it “a natural progression in our commitment to book lovers and audiobook fans.” Overdrive is maintaining and […]
Mormon Church-Owned Deseret Book Chain Pulls Stephenie Meyer From Shelves
The bookseller will only sell her books by special order going forward. Spokesperson Leigh Dethman says: “Like any retailer, our purpose is to offer products that are embraced and expected by our customers. When we find products that are met with mixed review, we typically move them to special order status.Salt Lake Tribune
Bookstore Burrowings
So one of my wonkier habits is scrolling through the lengthy SEC filings of major public companies in the book industry, exacerbated by recent annual reports from Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Books-a-Million. (The detailed filings often share interesting tidbits we don’t get to in the basic earnings releases and ensuing conference calls.) Among the things we’ve learned in the past couple of weeks: Borders sold just over $2 billion worth of books last, out of total revenue of $3.242 billion, or a little under 62 percent of sales. Books-a-Million, on the other hand, says that 83 percent of their […]
Bloomsbury UK Removes Prices from Backlist, and Retailers Are Surprised
Bloomsbury has been removing printed prices from backlist titles in the UK starting “over a year” ago, Richard Charkin tells the Bookseller. He adds, “When something drops into the backlist, you may wish to increase the price, in which case this enables us to do it [more easily]. It’s a sensible thing to do because I think this government is going to have to introduce high levels of inflation, and we want to make sure we have a way of dealing with it.” But all retailers surveyed by the magazine have been taken by surprise by the move. Borders UK […]