[NB: We made a simple math error below the first time; the correct number of what this might cost Barnes & Noble is $55.5 million, not $30.5 million.] The stock market has sent mixed signals at best regarding key retailers following Wednesday’s announcement of the Justice Department’s lawsuit (and settlement). On Wednesday itself, Barnes & Noble’s stock dropped sharply until someone stepped in and bought a million shares, rallying to recover much of the drop. The stock declined further on Thursday, and Friday morning it is down modestly again, having shed about $90 million in market cap since earlier this […]
Finance
More Amazon News: The 2011 Letter to Shareholders
Amazon has filed ceo Jeff Bezos’s annual letter to shareholders with the SEC in advance of their annual meeting–for which the board heartily recommends that owners vote against a shareholder proposal “calling for certain disclosures regarding corporate political contribtions.” In this year’s letter, the KDP program is one of three innovations that Bezos underscores: “Invention comes in many forms and at many scales. The most radical and transformative of inventions are often those that empower others to unleash their creativity – to pursue their dreams. That’s a big part of what’s going on with Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment by Amazon, […]
People, Etc.
At Artisan Books, Allison McGeehon has been promoted to director of publicity and marketing. At Holt, Melanie DeNardo has been promoted to associate director of publicity, reporting to Pat Eisemann. Former coo of Open Road Integrated Media Chris Lederer has joined AlixPartners as a director in its media practice division. Elly Weisenberg Kelly has joined independent book publicity firm JKSCommunications. She was most recently publicity manager at Grand Central. After a lengthy investigation, the Montana Attorney General concluded that author Greg Mortenson mismanaged the charity he established and helped to run, the Central Asia Institute, and found that he personally profited […]
Bloomsbury Acquires Fairchild Books
Continuing with its mission of bolstering its academic publishing division, Bloomsbury announced it has acquired Fairchild Books, which publishes textbooks and educational resources for students of fashion, merchandising, retailing and interior design. The deal was for $6.5 million in cash, which Bloomsbury will pay out in three annual installments. Bloomsbury’s relationship with Fairchild goes back to 2006, as it has been the company’s ex-North American distributor through its Berg imprint; in addition Bloomsbury’s presence in the visual arts space grew when it acquired Berg Publishers in 2008, launched the Berg Fashion Library in 2010 and acquired a fashion photography archive […]
Hometown Paper Criticizes Amazon On Changed Academic Discounts and Modest Philanthropy
The Seattle Times offers up two slabs of red meat for those who worry about Amazon’s growing power and how they wield it in introducing a four-part series on the company. The lengthy business piece includes only these two morsels of news: academic and nonfiction publisher McFarland and professional and academic publisher Berkshire Publishing Group have also declined to accept Amazon’s push for moving academic publishers from their traditional short discount to more of a trade discount schedule. McFarland, which appears to use the Advantage program, declined to accept a proposed 45 percent discount as of January 1. (The publisher […]
Corporate News: eSubscriptions from F+W; Princeton Review Sells Test-Prep Business; Hachette UK eBook Sales Now Over 20%; and More
F+W Media has launched the first of a series of ebook subscription sites across the company’s verticals. They are beginning with the Artist’s Network eBooks Book Club, a collection of over 100 full-color art instruction titles. An annual subscription costs $199. Impelsys’s iPublishCentral is their technology partner. CEO David Nussbaum says they hope to enroll “thousands” of subscribers in the first year. (The company already enjoys success with other subscriptions for this community, through their Artists Network Video Network.) The next F+W communities to launch ebook subscription plans will be writing, design, outdoors/weapons, woodworking, and romance. Princeton Review is selling […]