In the UK, the shortlists were announced for the Costa Awards in four categories. Women claimed all the nominations for best novel, while men took most of the first novel slots: Novel Life After Life, Kate Atkinson Unexpected Lessons in Love, Bernardine Bishop Instructions for a Heatwave, Maggie O’Farrell All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld First Novel Idiopathy, Sam Byers Meeting the English, Kate Clanchy The Shock of the Fall, Nathan Filer Marriage Material, Sathnam Sanghera In Canada, trade magazine Quill & Quire named their top six works of fiction of the year: The Orenda, Joseph Boyden The Luminaries, Elizabeth […]
International News
Nook Store for Windows Launches Internationally
Just a day before reporting second quarter earnings, Barnes & Noble’s Nook has finally launched their long-promised international sales rollout — which works through Windows 8.1 devices. The new app and expanded storefront is said to be available in 32 countries in all, primarily across Europe (but also Australia and Canada), and 21 languages. The focus, offering “customized local market Nook storefronts with robust local content offerings,” is on these 9 countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Barnes & Noble executive Jim Hilt says in the release, “Nook is one of the leading digital reading platforms […]
Earnings Reports: Hastings, Courier, and Osprey
Hastings reported third quarter sales of $94.7 million, down 6.6 percent, with 10 fewer superstores than the same period a year ago. Book sales declined 11.7 percent in the quarter, which the company blamed on “a weaker release schedule for new books and a decrease in trade paperback sales,” particularly given the effect of Fifty Shades a year ago as well as (when sales were only 1.4 percent in the same quarter). Books are down 11.8 percent for the year so far as well. At Courier Corporation, fourth-quarter sales rose 9 percent to $84 million and net income rose as […]
In the UK, Some Macmillan Education Employees Will Leave Rather than Move
Approximately 85 to 90 employees of Macmillan Education in the UK are electing to leave their jobs rather than relocate to London from Oxford, the Bookseller reports. Palgrave Macmillan is also relocating to the new London “campus” from Basingstoke, but it is not known yet how many of their employees are declining to move. As a result, “the company is currently recruiting to fill roles available within the London headquarters, with staff numbers at Macmillan Education understood to be set to grow 25% above the earlier total by March 2014.” When completed, the new offices will house more than 1,600 […]
Dutch Publisher WPG to Cut 100 Jobs
In the continuing compression of trade publishing in Holland, the big Weekblad Pers Groep (WPG) announced an agreement with two main unions for a reorganization that will eliminate approximately 100 full-time jobs next year “across all publishers and headquarters,” from a total workforce of about 720 people. Discussions with individual employees are taking place now. CEO Koen Clement cited “difficult market conditions” for book publishing globally and said they are seeing “lower sales, declining print runs and shrinking advertising revenues.” He said in the press release, “We see ourselves faced with the transition from a traditional publishing company to an […]
People, Children’s Imprints, Etc.
At Crown, Sarah Pekdemir has been named senior marketing manager, Crown Trade. At Behrman House, Dena Neusner has been promoted to executive editor. The New York Public Library will pay $2.15 million — funded in large part by a private donation — to purchase 190 boxes of Tom Wolfe‘s papers, “including drafts, outlines and research materials for his four novels and 12 other books as well as his uncollected journalism.” As previewed earlier in the week, World Book Night US has addred three YA titles to the list of books to be given away on April 22, 2014: Zora and […]