As previously reported, early demand for Barnes & Noble’s has soaked up most of the projected available supply prior to Christmas. Now Sony is looking to pick up some of that same glow, saying people who asked “to be notified” when the wireless Daily Edition became available “exceeded our expectations over the last few months and we expect high demand now that it’s available.” But that just papers over the fact that Sony has mostly blown the holiday season by not having any units ready to ship until December 18.Reuters For more e-reading material, Mike Shatzkin considers some “changes in […]
Harlequin Will and Won't Brand their Self-Published Books
There have been a lot of interesting comments and discussion online about Harlequin’s just-announced self-publishing line Harlequin Horizons. The company’s Malle Valik replies on the Smart Bitches site: “Harlequin put its name on the Harlequin Horizons site to clearly indicate this is a romance self-publishing site. The books published through Harlequin Horizons will not carry traditional Harlequin branding. The self-published author will be the brand and the Horizon double H logo will appear on the spine of the book. Harlequin is the gold standard in romance and that will not be compromised. Readers will not confuse Horizons books with traditional […]
Barnes & Noble Answers Burkle with Poison Pill, As He Keeps Buying
Following investor Ron Burkle’s accumulation of a large block of BN stock, the company’s board announced yesterday the passage of a “shareholder rights plan,” aka poison pill–largely out of favor now (except at companies where the founder still controls a third of the stock). The adopted the measure “in response to the recent rapid accumulation of a significant portion of Barnes & Noble’s outstanding common stock” and insist it “is intended to protect the company and its stockholders from efforts to obtain control of the company that are inconsistent with the best interests of the company and its stockholders.” The […]
People: Miner to Crown, and More
Sydny Miner is moving to Crown Publishers as executive editor, starting December 14 and reporting to publisher Tina Constable. She will acquire practical advice, how-to, health, and fitness books, as well as memoirs. Miner was a senior editor at Simon & Schuster, where she worked for 26 years. Brandon Proia joins Mary Anne Thompson Associates as a scout on November 30. He has been an associate editor at Basic. Separately, the company has been appointed US book scout for Ediouro/Agir/Nova Fronteria effective immediately. In the UK, Kate Shaw is leaving Aitken Alexander Associates after nine years to join The Viney […]
Awards
The lead-in to tonight’s National Book Awards has been awfully quiet, hasn’t it? Yesterday novelist M.G. Vassanji won Canada’s Governor General’s award for his memoir A PLACE WITHIN, as Kate Pullinger was the surprise winner of the fiction prize for THE MISTRESS OF NOTHING. The Man Asian Literary prize went to bestselling author in China Su Tong’s political fable THE BOAT TO REDEMPTION. The award goes to a work not yet published English, and is designed to bring “exciting new Asian authors to the attention of the world literary community.” The Guardian says Howard Goldblatt–who also translated the 2007 winner, […]
Graphic Arts Will Liquidate
Graphic Arts Center Publishing filed for liquidation in a Portland, OR federal bankruptcy court last Friday. The filing says that sales fell from $10.3 million in 2008 to $5.1 million for the first eight months of 2009. Last year’s sales were helped by their distribution relationship with Epicenter Press, which published Kaylene Johnson’s biography of Sarah Palin. Former board member and bookseller Michael Powell tells the Oregonian, “They’re having a hard time like everyone else. They did every cost cutting thing they could do.” The two largest creditors listed were Ingram, which give the publisher a $1.5 million loan, and […]