Neil Van Uum of Joseph-Beth Booksellers admits to the Cincinnati Enquirer that the bookstore group has not turned a profit for a decade. “It’s been a bloodbath for 10 years,” he says. “But we’re finally seeing an opportunity to gain market share.” Group sales have been flat, at $45 million annually, since 2005. But Van Uum expects growth of 8 or 9 percent this year, driven by additions to the group. With seven stores in five states, Joseph-Beth just opened a hospital gift shop at the Cleveland Clinic under the banner of their new Joseph-Beth Wellness Retail division, and they […]
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New Books In the News
Peter Biskind‘s forthcoming STAR: How Warren Beatty Seduced America draws headlines for its estimate that the movie star slept with almost 13,000 women over the years. Attorney Bert Fields denies the accusations, along with a contention in the NY Post that the book was authorized by Beatty.People Meanwhile, Elizabeth Gilbert‘s COMMITTED, which publishes tomorrow, is covered widely, including a Q&A with author Ann Patchett in the WSJ. In a preview piece, the NYT also tipped the awaited second novel from Elizabeth Kostova, THE SWAN THIEVES, along with Anne Tyler‘s NOAH’S COMPASS and Meg Whitman’s THE POWER OF MANY. Joshua Ferris‘s […]
Bookselling: Bankruptcy for Canada's McNally Robinson; Eso Won Expects Another Tough Year; Northshire Hails Haslett Novel
Much-admired Canadian indie McNally Robinson Booksellers has entered bankruptcy and will close two of its four stores immediately: one in Polo Park in Winnipeg and their Toronto store in the new Shops at Don Mills mall. 170 of the bookseller’s 425 full- and part-time employees will lose their jobs as result. Co-owner Paul McNally says that as long as the company’s bankruptcy plan is approved the other two stories, in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, will remain open. “They make money,” he said. “They have a loyal following,” while the other two “new stores absolutely did not perform.” The Winnipeg Free Press […]
Remembering Joyce Engelson, Paul Nathan and Mark Gates
Richard Marek reports to us that longtime book editor Joyce Engelson died on Christmas of pneumonia. In her long career she was editor-in-chief at Abelard Schuman, executive editor of The Dial Press, editor-in-chief of Richard Marek Publishers at St. Martin’s and Putnam, editor-in-chief of Dutton, and editor at large for Crown. Among the hundreds of authors she edited were Richard Condon, Samuel Shem, Norman Cousins, Heywood Hale Broun, Irving Howe, Gael Green and Ishmael Reed. Marek writes: “Known for her fierce honesty with authors – young editors at Richard Marek Publishers used to stand by her office door when she […]
Possibilities for Kirkus
Twitter-watchers spotted a brief tweet from Kirkus Reviews noting the publication has “a few interested buyers.” Sarah Weinman reported the managing editor telling her, “no new info at the moment. Just still working through possibilities, but nothing to report.”
Making 2010 Wimpy
One of the 2009’s sales all-stars announced a new book for early next year: Jeff Kinney’s The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary will have a one-day national lay-down on Tuesday, March 16. It releases a couple of weeks ahead of Fox’s Wimpy Kid movie, and “goes behind the scenes to humorously chronicle the making of the film.” Kinney says “I was fascinated by the filmmaking process, and I thought my readers might be as wide-eyed and interested as I was. In The Wimpy Kid Move Diary, I’ve tried to tell the story of how a movie gets made in a way […]