At a conference last week Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry told Le Figaro that Hachette Book Group USA ebook sales since January “are in line with the national average,” which the AAP reported as comprising approximately 23.5 percent of the total trade in January. Indeed, HBG is one of the 14 publishers who report ebook sales to the AAP to begin with. Le Figaro Some Borders stores in the midst of closing-out sales have discounted the Kobo Wi-Fi reader to $59.99. CNET Taiwan International Airport will open arguably the first airport e-bookstore, which stocks four hundred titles available in ePub […]
Bookselling: California Town on Hook for Rent on Closing Borders Store; Foyles Buys Grant & Cutler; And More
As Borders continues its march through Chapter 11 and additional store closings, the city of Pico Rivera, CA faces a nasty surprise: for the next seven years, they must continue paying a minimum of nearly $11,000 a month in rent on an eight-year-old store Borders will shut by the end of April. That’s because Pico Rivera, with a population of approximately 65,000, was thought to be too small to support a Borders store, causing the government to cut a deal with Borders and its landlord, Vestar Development Center, to spend $1.6 million in federal grant money and subsidize the rent […]
The Next Two Questions on BKS
For the most of the day Friday Barnes & Noble’s stock looked likely to end its rotten week on an upswing, moving up and appearing ready to break a four-day losing streak with heavy volume. But then in the very final minutes of trading, three big sell orders of over a million shares each (or approximately 4 million shares in all) came to market and took the share price down sharply again. BN’s stock closed down another 4 percent for the day, and over 24 percent for the week, finishing at another new low of $8.89 a share. The two […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, March 21
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Grace McCleen’s debut THE LAND OF DECORATION, about a ten-year-old girl […]
People, Etc.
Dara La Porte is leaving Politics and Prose, where she has managed the children’s and teen’s department for the past 11, to co-direct Literacy and Prose, a non-profit that brings authors and illustrators to schools. Transworld associate publicity director Laura Sherlock is leaving the company in order to “spend more time with her young family.” Her last day is June 8. Aflame Books, which devoted itself to publishing fiction in translation since, announced on its website last week that it ” has ceased trading and will no longer publish books,” after five years in business. They add, “we thank […]
Bookselling: Joseph-Beth Up for Sale; ABA Expands Board; New Indies; And More
With creditors nipping at Joseph-Beth‘s heels, wondering how the independent bookselling chain will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a new filing this week provided some more concrete answers – which demonstrates an outside savior appears to be the best hope. After initially closing four stores, Joseph-Beth will close a fifth store in Fredericksburg, VA before the end of June. The company is also putting itself up for sale, saying that it can’t come up with a reorganization plan that satisfies lenders, creditors and the bankruptcy court. “In the exercise of their business judgment, and to maximize the return to the […]