UBS issued a rare downgrade on Amazon’s stock, with analyst Eric Sheridan basing part of that call on a recent survey to explore whether the company could charge more for Prime. On Amazon’s recent fourth quarter earnings call, the company said it was considering raising the annual fee by $20 to $40. Sheridan writes: “Our survey results call into question our prior views about the value that a broad set of consumers are applying to the current iteration of Amazon Prime.” He adds, “We were negatively surprised by the results of the survey.” The downgrade and survey weighed on Amazon’s […]
Finance
People, Etc.
After more than two years at HarperCollins, where she was executive editor at It Books, Esther Margolis is leaving the company on February 14 and reclaiming the Newmarket Press. She will establish a new publishing and media venture to agent, package and consult on books, publishing, marketing and cross-media strategies, especially in the film and entertainment area. Margolis founded Newmarket Press in 1981 and sold the company and backlist to Harper in 2011. She will assume full rights to the Newmarket Press name and logo after the fall season launch. At Inkwell Literary Management, Allison Hunter and Lauren Smythe have […]
Bookselling: Chapitre Closes 23 of 57 Stores, Eliminates Over 400 Jobs; and More
France’s bankrupt second-largest bookstore chain Chapitre completed its dissolution with the court approved sale of 8 more stores, and the formal closure of the remaining 23 locations they were unable to sell, out of a total of 57 branches. France’s Les Echos says 434 jobs will be eliminated as a result — including 100 jobs at company headquarters — or a third of their workforce. Chapitre’s owner Actissia announced last summer that it intended to sell the chain outright and, if it could not find a buyer, would close all stores by summer 2014. Eleven stores had closed last December, with […]
Open Road Acquires E-Reads
Open Road Integrated Media announced Monday that it has an agreement to acquire literary agent Richard Curtis’s E-Reads, one of the pioneering ebook publishers, with a catalog of over 1,200 titles. That list, focused on science fiction and fantasy (and including mystery, thriller, romance, and horror books) will significantly enlarge Open Road’s list of 4,200 titles. The deal is expected to close on April 1, at which point Open Road will decide which if any of E-Reads staff of 5 full- and part-time employees they want to retain. E-Reads founder Richard Curtis will continue to run his longstanding literary agency, […]
Packer Asks “Is Amazon Good for Books?”
And if you have to ask, the implied — but not particularly explicit — answer is no. George Packer looks at Amazon and the book business in this week’s New Yorker. Much of the piece will be familiar to our readers. He does find evidence of a forgotten Amazon imprint from late 1999 from former employee James Marcus, when “Amazon tried publishing books, leasing the rights to a defunct imprint called Weathervane and putting out a few titles,” mostly revived remainders. “Weathervane fell into an oblivion so complete that there’s no trace of it on the Internet. (Representatives at the […]
People, Etc.
At Gotham/Avery, Lindsay Gordon has been promoted to associate director of publicity. Beth Ineson has been appointed to the new role of executive director, book marketing, sales, and operations at Boston Common Press, starting March 3. Most recently she was head of field sales at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ineson will oversee expansion of the marketing and distribution of efforts of the Cook’s Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen, and Cook’s Country lines of cookbooks. Annie Kelley has returned to Schwartz & Wade Books as senior editor. Previously she was youth editor at Booklist. Simon & Schuster UK will combine its adult and […]