Amazon has entered the burgeoning business of book subscription boxes with their Prime Book Box program. The new initiative provides a collection of “books tailored to your child’s age” — two hardcovers, or four board books for kids 2 and under — sent every 1, 2 or 3 months, priced at $22.99 per box, plus tax. For now the program is offered to Amazon Prime members in the US only. They say that books in the boxes will be selected by a combination of “expert recommendations from our Amazon Books editors and customer ratings and reviews. Subscribers are presented with a […]
Bookstores
Briefs: Arrest Boosts McNamara Book, Academy Considers Skipping 2018 Nobel for Literature, and More
The surprise arrest of a suspect in the Golden State Killer case on Wednesday caused a surge of interest in the late Michelle McNamara‘s I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, published February 22. Harper reports that they have reprinted 75,000 copies in response, bringing them up to 175,000 copies in print, with digital versions currently ranked No. 1 at Kindle and iBooks, and No. 2 at Audible. Through April 22, Bookscan had recorded sales of approximately 51,000 hardcovers in the eight weeks on sale. Awards The Edgar Awards were presented across multiple categories Thursday night. Winners included: Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke […]
People, Etc.
Victoria Wells Arms is joining Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency as of May 1, bringing her clients over from Wells Arms Literary. Ken Brooks, Bill Kasdorf, Thad McIlroy, Bill Rosenblatt and Bill Trippe are coming together in a powerhouse alignment of “independent consultants with complementary expertise,” forming Publishing Technology Partners. They are calling it a “one-stop destination for addressing your publishing technology challenges and opportunities at a strategic level and implementing practical, effective solutions tailored to fit your needs.” Their announcement notes: “We recognized that no one of us could solve all of the technology problems of every publisher. But together we’re convinced that we’ve […]
Controlling Stake In Waterstones Sold to Elliott Advisors
As has been expected since they initiated an exclusive negotiation period at the end of January, hedge fund Elliott Advisors has reached a deal to acquire and finance UK bookselling chain Waterstones, for undisclosed terms. They are financing the transaction — a good portion of which likely includes either the assumption, or repayment, of Waterstones’ debt of between 83 million and 139 million pounds — themselves. Current owner Alexander Mamut’s Lynwood Investments will retain a minority stake, however, and the deal is expected to close in early May. James Daunt will stay on as ceo of the chain. Head of […]
People, Etc.
Interim director of English PEN since August 2017 Antonia Byatt has been made the organization’s standing director. Lena Moses-Schmitt was promoted to publicity manager for Catapult, Counterpoint and Soft Skull. Kate Hutchison has joined LSC Communications as director of business development and strategy, publisher services, focusing on creating digital solutions within the publishing industry. She was most recently at BookShout. On Twitter, Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown offers “an incomplete list of [30] literary agent nightmares.” Awards Ibrahim Nasrallah won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his second novel, The Second War of the Dog (Arab Scientific Publishers. The $50,000 […]
People, Etc.
Janine Barlow and Samantha Zukergood have both been promoted to assistant editor at Thomas Dunne Books. At Dutton, Jamie Knapp has been promoted to associate director of publicity, and Becky Odell moves up to associate publicist. James Hegberg has been promoted to senior online marketing manager at Sourcebooks. At Random House Children’s books, on the licensed & proprietary brands marketing team: Krister Engstrom has been promoted to assistant director, Tara Grieco moves up to associate marketing manager, and Jena Debois is now marketing coordinator. Sarah Gaydos will join Oni Press as editorial director of licensed publishing. She has been an editor at IDW Publishing. Rebecca Vnuk has joined LibraryReads […]