Wall Street’s hate affair with Barnes & Noble‘s stock has continued. Shares fell more than a dollar yesterday, declining more than 9 percent, to finish at what was an all-time low. Until the market opened this morning, with prices down another 4 percent in early trading, standing at about $10.25 a share. (The overall market is down broadly today, with major indices down over 2 percent.) The company’s stock has fallen over 45 percent in less than a month. Two Chicago-area Borders book signings for former mobster Frank Calabrese Jr.‘s book Operation Family Secrets: How a Mobster’s Son and the […]
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A Redesigned Boston Globe Books Section, and More People News
The Boston Globe’s redesigned books section will make its debut on Sunday, March 20, with several additions and changes to its columns, editor Nicole Lamy tells us. Amanda Heller and Barbara Fisher will no longer co-write the “Short Takes” capsule review column; Heller’s last piece appeared on March 6 and Fisher’s on March 13. Replacing them is Kate Tuttle, a freelancer who has contributed to The Washington Post, The Boston Phoenix, Babble and Salon. The Shelf Life column, previously written by Katherine Powers, is now called Word on the Street with a new writer in place. Two new columns – […]
Briefs: ‘Heaven Is For Real’ A Sleeper Hit; Whitcoulls For Sale; Continuing Fenn Fallout; And More
Heaven Is For Real, recounting evangelical pastor Todd Burpo‘s the-four year old son Colton’s otherworldly experience while undergoing surgery for a burst appendix, has proven to be a sleeper paperback hit for Thomas Nelson. The publisher tells the NYT the book (co-written with Sarah Palin ghostwriter Lynn Vincent) had “broken company sales records”, going back to press 22 times on an initial print run of 40,000 copies since the book’s November release. There are now more than 1.5 million copies in print (and “hundreds of thousands of copies” sold) with strong sales in both Barnes & Noble and Christian specialty markets. […]
NBCC Awards; New Imprints; and More
The National Book Critics Circle Awards went to: A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (Fiction) The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson (General Nonfiction) How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell (Biography) Half a Life, by Darin Straus (Autobiography) One with Others, by C.D. Wright (Poetry) Lyric Poetry and Modern Poetry — Russia, Poland, and the West, by Claire Cavanaugh (Criticism) NBCC Release Online comedy video site Funny or Die will start a line of books under the banner of Funny or Die Books, starting this July with an e-book of celebrity satire […]
E-News: ALA Statement on “New Challenges in E-Environment”; Macmillan Sells E-Books Direct Through Diesel; and More
The American Library Association announced the creation of two new task forces, the presidential task force on Equitable Access to Electronic Content (EQUACC) and the E-book Task Force, to address “recent publisher changes affecting libraries’ ability to provide e-books to the public,” namely HarperCollins’ stance on capping e-book lending. In a meeting this week, the EQUACC recommended the ALA “conduct an environmental scan to understand the current landscape and project future scenarios”, work within and outside ALA “to improve access to electronic information for all, with a particular focus on people with disabilities,” identify and support new e-lending models, and […]
eNews: Avon Launches New Digital Imprint; Kobo Closes New Funding Round; and More
Yesterday Avon announced its digital-first imprint, Avon Impulse, which will feature ebook novels and novellas (with POD editions also available) by current Avon authors and aims to “seek new talent to nurture in an e-book marketplace that finds romance experiencing expansive growth.” The first title will be Katherine Ashe’s enovella, “A Lady’s Wish,” released next week, with plans to publish at least one new title every week going forward. Authors will not receive an advance, but will get 25 percent net royalties for the first 10,000 copies sold, and 50 percent thereafter. Unlike Harlequin’s digital imprint Carina Press, Avon Impulse […]