If I’m being honest, as I usually try to do, the working book trade press corp showed up at Barnes & Noble’s Union Square store this morning with a bit of resentment. Why was the company pulling us away from the Javits floor on the opening morning of BEA to introduce an already leaked eInk touchscreen device? Particularly when those nice Canadians from Kobo unveiled their $129 touchscreen reader modestly at Javits Center yesterday. Also odd at first, and then just plain annoying (and a little pathetic), was a claque of roughly sixty people wearing black t-shirts emblazoned with “nook,” apparently […]
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Malone Explains to Shareholders Why Liberty Bid For BN
At a meeting with Liberty Media shareholders in Denver Monday to approve the planned spinoff of Liberty Capital and Starz, chairman John Malone explained why the company offered $17 a share for Barnes & Noble last week. He believes there’s a bright future for BN, and not just in terms of its digital growth: “I’ve been a Barnes & Noble customer myself for many, many years. The stores will shift around, but there will be a physical presence for a long, long time to come, and it will be a profitable presence.” Malone expects negotiations could take months rather than […]
New Bowker/BISG eBook Survey Highlights Disparity Between eBook Consumption in Trade and Higher Ed
This morning BISG presented two studies prepared by Bowker’s PubTrack on ereading habits with markedly different objectives and conclusions. “The most important thing want want you to walk away from is to consider who your consumer is,” said Bowker’s Kelly Gallagher. “We’re looking at two completely different sides of the spectrum.” The newest iteration of its survey on Consumer Attitudes Toward eBook Reading pinpointed (once more) the core ebook buyer: a 44-year-old female with a median household income of $77K who reads and buys romance novels above all else to read on a dedicated device. 18 percent of respondents buy […]
People: Grann to Retire; Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency Opens; and More
After more than 40 years in publishing, and more than 10 years with Doubleday, editor-at-large Phyllis Grann will retire from the company on June 9. “Phyllis is among the towering figures who have shaped book publishing,” said Knopf chairman Sonny Mehta in a statement. “We know her as a brilliant editor and savvy businesswoman, but more important, in my view, is the role she has played as a confidant and mentor to many in our industry. I certainly have learned a great deal from her.” Grann says, “as much as I have enjoyed the work, I now feel it is time […]
BEA Shorts: New Kobo Touchscreen Reader; New Twilight Graphic Novel for October
As Borders ceo Mike Edwards recently leaked in part, Monday morning at BEA the Kobo executive team announced their new ereader — a $129.99 model with an eInk Pearl screen—which raises the bar for tomorrow’s announced features and price point for Barnes & Noble’s expected touchscreen ereader. Kobo will have the new model on display starting tomorrow at their BEA booth, and visitors to Borders’ Columbus Square location can test it out between noon and 2 PM Tuesday. Kobo says the new model will ship in early June, though Borders’ release says it won’t ship until July. Kobo’s wi-fi model will […]
Larry Kirshbaum to Lead New Amazon Publishing Operation In New York
Amazon announced to a group of agents Sunday night that Larry Kirshbaum will leave agenting and return to publishing, serving as vp and publisher for Amazon Publishing’s New York office, effective immediately (officially starting July 5). Kirshbaum, who celebrates his birthday on Monday, says “On my sixty-seventh birthday, I’m reinventing myself.” Reporting to Amazon’s Jeff Belle, Kirshbaum is charged with building something that will look like a general trade publisher, with “a specific focus on non-fiction, but also literary fiction,” Belle says, since Amazon has already been rolling out other imprints focused on genre fiction. In the note to agents, […]