The basics have been well reported within minutes of Amazon’s announcement on Thursday after the close the of market. In what is widely recognized as a very smart move by the retailer, they have an agreement to acquire Goodreads for an undisclosed sum. Goodreads was backed by venture capitalist True Ventures, so it was going to be sold to someone. Started seven years ago, the social network for books had been interviewing experienced publishing executives in recent months as part of an exploration of selling books directly from the site to their 16 million members. Goodreads and its staff of […]
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Briefs: Changing Hands To Open Second Location in Phoenix; NYS Court Affirms That Amazon Must Pay Sales Tax
Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ has finalized plans to open a second store in Phoenix in early November, co-owner Gayle Shanks said on the store’s website. The new location has been in the works since last year, according to Phoenix Business Journal, and the bookstore will partner with Phoenix-based real estate firm Venue Projects (“whose mission is to create inspiring places that serve and celebrate nature while promoting community”), the Beckett’s Table restaurant restaurant group, and a company focused on meeting and event space for mobile professionals to redevelop the space, formerly occupied by a restaurant. They are working […]
Amazon Acquires Goodreads
In what appears to be a definitive strike in consolidating online book discovery under one virtual roof, Amazon announced Thursday afternoon that it acquired Goodreads for an undisclosed sum. The company’s headquarters are expected to remain in San Francisco with the deal set to close in the second quarter of 2013 subject to various closing conditions. Founded in 2006 by Otis Chandler, Goodreads boasts more than 16 million members — vaulting it ahead of Shelfari (which Amazon acquired in 2008), LibraryThing (in which Amazon has a stake after buying AbeBooks in 2008), and Bookish, which finally opened for business earlier […]
Penguin to Allow Libraries to Lend New eBook Releases
Penguin will lift their six-month windowing on new hardcover releases for libraries, allowing libraries to purchase/license and lend those titles immediately upon publication. Director of online sales and marketing Tim McCall tells the AP it’s an evolution of their lending experiments (under which they have been working with 3M and Baker & Taylor). “We feel that we’re ready to take the next step and offer what consumers and libraries have been asking for.” Penguin sells ebooks to libraries at the consumer ebook price, for one-at-a-time lending for one year only. Their soon-to-be partners at Random House offer ebooks to a […]
People: St. Martin’s Reorganizes Marketing and Publicity Teams
St. Martin’s Press is reorganizing its marketing and publicity departments into four core groups as part of a move from “format-driven orientation to an audience-and-category-focused orientation.” The groups will be made up of SMP’s current marketers, publicists and digital marketers, each working on a specific set of genre groups. Anne Marie Tallberg has been named vp, marketing, communications & audience development leading a group focusing on women’s fiction/romance/young adult/parenting/self-help/health-fitness-diet/crafts. Dori Weintraub will serve in the same executive capacity, leading a group focusing on women’s fiction/literary fiction/biography-memoir. Lisa Senz will has been named vp, marketing and partnerships, and will continue as […]
Trade Paperbacks Boost Adult Trade November AAP Numbers, With Overall eBook Sales at 18 Percent
The AAP released their monthly StatShot report for November 2012, showing flat trade sales overall but a small spike in the growth of ebooks–which comprised 18.1 percent of all trade revenues in the month. Adult trade sales of $434.5 million were up $9.6 million from a year ago. Adult hardcovers declined 21.5 percent, at $155.6 million, while trade paperbacks were up 20.6 percent at $116.9 million (though virtually flat compared to October numbers.) As in October, eBooks comprised the third-largest segment for adult books, at $94.8 million — but was just a 20.7 percent increase over $78.5 million a year […]