Google’s first ebookstore in a non-English-speaking country is a bit of a surprise, with the company launching Google Play with ebooks in Italy on Tuesday. The other global players are not particularly established in the Italian market already. The Kindle store launched there in December 2011, and the iBookstore opened in Italy (and much of Europe) in October 2011. Kobo named Italy as one of the markets they would launch in “shortly” back in April 2011, but have not gotten there yet. Bloomsbury Reader, created to reissue long out-of-print works as ebooks and POD paperbacks, is releasing an ebook original […]
International News
Corporate: Scholastic Expect More Earnings Thanks to Hunger Games Sales; Secound Round Bids for Flammarion
Scholastic significantly increased its earnings guidance for fiscal 2012, which ends on May 31, to exceed $3.40 a share, “based on stronger than anticipated sales of The Hunger Games trilogy following the March 23 movie release.” Previously, the company projected annual earnings of between $2.60 to $2.90 per diluted share, while the company’s prior guidance for revenue and free cash flow remains unchanged. The sale process for French publisher Flammarion by its Italian owner RCS Media continues, with a number of reports indicating that five publishers have submitted second-round bids starting at 300 million euros. France’s Actes Sud and Albin […]
Book Sales Down 8 Percent at WH Smith, with 100 Kobo In-Store Shops Coming This Year
Book sales continue to decline at UK chain WH Smith, down 8 percent on a same-store-sales basis for the six months ending February 29. On their Kobo relationship, the company says “initial performance is encouraging and we plan to further develop the offer throughout this year,” without indicating any figures. High street store sales of 448 million pounds were down over 5 percent overall (by 25 million pounds) and 6 percent on a comp-store basis, but groupwide profit rose 3 million pounds. In a parallel announcement, Kobo explained that they will open 100 in-store boutiques within WH Smith high street […]
Digital Launches and News: Sony UK, Nook UK (Not Yet), Kobo Self-Publishing (Not Yet), And Much More
After failing to launch as promised last October, Sony has opened their Reader Store in the UK, offering approximately 100,000 titles. Still not launched, and probably not coming until summer–as has been known to some for months now–is Nook‘s international expansion, and its partnership with the UK’s Waterstones in particular. The Bookseller obtained Nook’s proposed contract with UK publishers, which asks for worldwide distribution rights. Kobo, which has been talking about launching a self-publishing platform of their own since late last year with few details, said at LBF that the new service will debut some time “this quarter,” before the […]
People, Etc.
Granta has hired Max Porter as a commissioning editor for the Granta and Portobello imprints. He is currently manager of Daunt Books’ Chelsea, London branch. At Conville & Walsh, Jake Smith-Bosanquet has been made managing director. There will be public memorial service to celebrate the life and spirit of Norris Church Mailer on April 22, at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, at 4:00. Among those scheduled to offer remarks at the service are Liz Smith, James Toback, Larry Schiller, Michael Mailer, John Buffalo Mailer, Sasha Lazard, Nancy Collins, Margo Howard, Dorris Goodwin, and Sondra Lee. The Pottermore web site […]
Meanwhile, The EU Looks to Settle With Every Publisher Except Penguin
Following yesterday’s news from the Department of Justice, the European Commission’s parallel investigation of agency ebook price may be close to a settlement among most of the parties involved as well. Multiple news reports indicate that Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster – but not Penguin – have all sent proposals to the EC to settle the case. S&S spokesperson Adam Rothberg told Bloomberg they are in “active and productive discussions” with the EC. Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition chief, said in a statement that he welcomed an early resolution and was engaged in “fruitful discussions” with the […]