At Quarto in the UK, Piers Spence has stepped down from his role as director of co-edition publishing to run a farm in rural Devon where he plans to raise rare breed pigs and plant a vineyard. He will be replaced in February by David Breuer, chief executive of Royal Academy Enterprises, which operates the commercial activities of London’s Royal Academy of Arts, including its retail, book and magazine publishing operations. Spence will serve as a consultant to Quarto”for at least six months.” At HarperCollins’ Morrow-Avon division, Pamela Spengler-Jaffee has been promoted to senior director of publicity. She joined the […]
International News
Waterstone’s Parent HMV Reports Terrible Holiday Following UK Snow
Snowstorms in the UK dampened holiday sales at many outlets, and the HMV was the first of the big retailers to warn markets. Their Waterstone’s unit did well on a relative basis, with same-store sales for the 10-week holiday period declining 2.1 percent. (As we noted in December, Waterstone’s comps were down 3.2 percent for the first six months of the year, and the chain has been in “turnaround” mode since at least 2005.) HMV stores fared far worse, falling 13.6 percent on a same-store basis, and 11.9 percent overall in the 10-week period. HMV warned markets that it will […]
Nielsen BookScan UK’s Top 50 Books of 2010
The Guardian has downloadable spreadsheets of the top 100 books of the year in the UK, along with the top 100 books since Nielsen BookScan started collecting UK point-of-sale data in 1998. Here are the top 50 books of last year. Despite all the opening-day attention for former prime minister Tony Blair, he finishes the year in 27th place: 1 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 1,156,530 2 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest Stieg Larsson 995,845 3 The Girl Who Played with Fire Stieg Larsson 957,063 4 Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals Jamie Oliver 874,546 5 The Lost […]
Apple Gains Approval for iBookstore In Canada–In Exchange for Multiple “Commitments”
Canada’s Heritage Minister announced approval for Apple to launch a Canadian iBookstore, which “represents new opportunities for Canadian authors and publishers.” To win that consent, Apple has promised to promote Canadian-authored books; to increase “opportunities for Canadian publishers and authors” and access to titles from Aboriginal authors and publishers; and to provide “assistance to Canadian publishers in streamlining processes of e-book creation and enhancement.”Release
Curtis Brown UK Launches Paid Writing Classes for Fiction Writers
The latest news item driving online commentary is the launch of a three-month novel-writing course by Curtis Brown UK, “the first and only new writing school to be run by a literary agency.” They charge 1,600 pounds, and promise to “consider” students’ for representation: “We don’t guarantee that we’ll offer representation but we do guarantee that every student’s work will be read by a Curtis Brown book agent and every student will receive a detailed critique on their work at the end of the course.” They also require that students give the agency an exclusive opportunity to consider their completed […]
Canada’s Doubleday Book Club Closes As Direct Brands Unit Goes Bankrupt
Direct Brands’ Canadian unit DB Media has filed for bankruptcy and the administrator told employees yesterday that the unit is ceasing operations immediately and all jobs are terminated, putting about 100 people out of work. The Canadian book club operated as Doubleday Canada, and the other major unit used the Columbia House name. In an e-mail to the Toronto Sun, Direct Brands ceo Deborah Fine referred to it as a “strategic decision to close the Canadian operation.” To avoid any confusion, the Random House Canada underscored in a brief statement that their line “is very much in active business and […]