Over the weekend Phoenix Books announced the death of company president Michael Viner, 64, on Saturday, following a battle with cancer. They note Viner was “widely credited with revolutionizing and reinventing the audiobook industry as the co-founder of Dove Audio.” At the Hugo Awards presented this weekend, Neil Gaiman won the prize for best novel for The Graveyard Book. Borders Group has named three vice presidents to lead their store operations: Mike Steele is zone vice president for the West Coast; John Melnick is zone vice president for the Northeast; Dave Marsico is zone vice president for the Midwest. The […]
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Harper In the Red for Q4 As Sales Fall Over 20 Percent
HarperCollins swung from profit of $28 million a year ago to an operating loss of $4 million for their fiscal fourth quarter, including a $3 million impairment/operating charge, finishing the year with an operating loss of $16 million (including $33 million in impairment/operating charges), compared to $160 million in operating income a year ago. (They still show “adjusted operating income” of $17 million for the year.) News Corp. says the deterioration is “largely due to the weak retail market.” Sales for the fourth quarter fell $72 million at Harper, down 20.5 percent, at $278 million. Full-year sales for the publisher […]
Bookselling: New Orleans' Maple Street to Close Children's Book Shop
The dedicated Maple Street Children’s Bookshop will turn into a section within an expanded Maple Street Book Shop. The children’s store has been in business since the 1970s. As Nola.com recalls, “A stop by Maple Street Children’s Book Shop was often a cherished part of the weekend family routine, whether it was for the storytimes held every Saturday morning or an afternoon browse.” The building next door “will become a used book store and space for periodicals and gifts,” Nola.com reports.
New Digital Book Conference Set for January, with Shatzkin As Chair
F+W Media, the publishing company focused on core enthusiast communities, is launching a two-day conference focused on “the radically changing commercial environment for consumer book publishers and their trading partners” next January 26 and 27 in New York at the Sheraton. Consultant, entrepreneur and longtime analyst of digital change Mike Shatzkin is leading the programming as conference chair, and he has recruited an advisory board that includes Richard Curtis, Jeff Gomez, Ami Greko, Mark Gompertz, John Ingram, Maja Thomas, Tom Turvey, and many others. Envisioned as an event by, of and for trade publishers, the new conference’s goal is to […]
Bookselling: Borders Adds More Toys, Details Other Kids' Changes
Borders has issued a press release covering a number of their expansions in children’s product lines. Today they say they have “greatly expanded toy and game offerings in its more than 500 superstores.” In addition to the previously reported expansion of Borders Ink Teen Shops (special boutique-like sections within most Borders superstores that feature Young Adult as well as Graphic Novel and Manga titles along with a number of other trendy products), the retailer has added a “picture book feature wall to make shopping easier for parents” and has “moved books for independent readers — kids ages 8 through 12” […]
People and Announcements
The PEN American Center has named Steven Isenberg as executive director. For the past six years, he was a visiting professor of humanities at the University of Texas, Austin). His many previous positions include stints as publisher of New York Newsday, evp of the Los Angeles Times, and chief of staff to New York Mayor John Lindsay. Release Susannah McFarlane, former co-owner, managing direct and publisher of Hardie Grant Egmont in Australia has launched a new company, Lemonfizz Media. She will “focus on fully developing a small number of publishing projects that we are passionate about and really investing in […]