Knopf has been positioning Jo Nesbo‘s THE SNOWMAN as its big summer thriller breakout, and they report selling 20,000 total copies so far of the May 10 release – with digital making up as much as 65 percent, at 13,000 units sold. Since every media outlet under the sun has wondered whether Nesbo is “the next Stieg Larsson,” it’s worth noting that THE SNOWMAN exceeded sales of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by 2,000 units during the same time frame. “The Larsson comp is significant because it demonstrates how much shift there has been in our business in under […]
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People: Davidar Starts New Publishing House in India, and More
Former Penguin Canada publisher David Davidar, who left the company and the country under a cloud of controversy after sexual harassment allegations, has joined forces with Rupa Publications India to start a new publishing house, the Aleph Book Company. The new venture will begin with a small and select group of fiction and non-fiction titles (evidently mirroring Faber and Faber in the UK.) Said Davidar in a statement: “I am thrilled to join hands with Rupa to launch this venture. We will be looking be ensure that each book we publish makes its mark and to that any title that […]
Briefs: CEO Letters from Borders, Lonely Planet; Zondervan Warehouse to Close; and More
In the wake of yesterday’s news that Lonely Planet would shift most of its web operations to the UK and lay off approximately 70 employees, CEO Matt Goldberg went into more detail about the reorganization in a memo to staff. In addition to reiterating the reorganization causes – losing $13 million on foreign currency due to a strong Australian dollar and reducing costs by 18 percent – Goldberg indicated the company’s digital revenues climbed to 21 percent from from 9 percent over the past four years, “which indicates our digital business has momentum.” Borders CEO Mike Edwards is taking his […]
Lonely Planet to Move Web Operations to UK, Cut 70 Jobs
Lonely Planet announced to Melbourne staff Thursday that it will shift the bulk of its web operations to the company’s UK offices and slash costs by 18 percent, cutting 70 jobs in the process. The company said the move was due to a strengthening Australian dollar and declining sales. “Despite the fact that we’ve delivered on everything we set out to achieve this past year, the devastating impact of foreign currency exchange shaved over $13 million off our 2010/11 revenues. And at the moment, we have more than 80 per cent of our revenues coming from outside of Australia & New […]
Bookselling: Laredo Gets a Chain Bookstore Again; Diesel Close to New Malibu Digs; World Book Night in US; And More
The city of Laredo, TX, which last year famously became the largest American city without a new bookstore when a B. Dalton branch closed, will no longer have that distinction as of today – thanks to the arrival of Books-A-Million in the very same space. (A used bookstore, Escape Again Bookstore, did open in the city last year.) AP Diesel, A Bookstore is close to finding a new home in Malibu after it was forced to close earlier this year because of landlord and construction issues. Malibu Country Mart owner Michael Koss said at Monday’s City Council meeting that he […]
Dorchester Tells Now-Disbanded Unofficial Creditors Committee It Does Have a Plan
Early last week Dorchester enthusiastically announced that they will resume publishing “a full trade line” next month. That hopeful message was preceded by a vote of no confidence from the authors whom Dorchester still is said to owe royalties (and in some cases, reversions of rights as well). On April 22, representatives of a group of authors and publishing professionals who had formed unofficial unsecured creditors committee told Dorchester they were disbanding. “The Unofficial Committee has taken this step,” said the representative from law firm Lowenstein Sandler in an email obtained by us, “because it has determined that Dorchester will […]