In a further twist on viral marketing, the folks at Tor have just launched THE GATHERING STORM, the much-anticipated first installment of the posthumous completion of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books, with the help of an army of ardent fans. Through the official Jordan web site Dragonmount, a call went out for “Storm Leaders” across the country to lead community outreach and fan gatherings in the 26 tour cities. Over 500 people submitted applications for about 100 positions. As publicist Dot Lin explains, “Before the event, they do online and ground outreach (Facebook, fliers, etc.) and during the event, […]
Indigo Comp Sales Slide Modestly
Second quarter sales at Canada’s Indigo rose by $1.7 million to $207 million (Canadian), driven by the opening of four new stores, as same-store superstore sales fell by 0.9 percent. Online sales continued to decline, down over 5 percent at $20 million, and net earnings fell by $1 million, to $2.2 million. CEO Heather Reisman said that their “operating investment” in the Shortcovers initiative has been a drag on earnings–and it’s not clear from their reported results that it is generating any meaningful revenue. Reisman added, “We are satisfied with our results through what has proven to be a very […]
Market News: K-12 Down Sharply at McGraw-Hill; Market Kicks BN
McGraw-Hill reported third quarter sales, with their education division dropping 11.6 percent to $1 billion compared, as operating profit fell 16 percent to $298 million. The decline came entirely from the K-12 line, which fell almost 20 percent, “in a 2009 state new adoption market that deteriorated all year as budgetary pressures led a growing number of school districts to postpone purchases.”Release Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble can’t catch a break from Wall Street analysts no matter what they do. On Friday Credit Suisse reduced their target price for the company to $16 per share (about two dollars below its current […]
Nelson Considers Pricing Defenses
Thomas Nelson ceo Mike Hyatt blogs on the bestseller price war, saying that “publishers themselves need to find the courage to act in everyone’s long-term interests. As the content providers, they have all the power they need to stop these pricing practices.” That “courage” can lead to some radical options, such as not selling to major vendors. He indicates that Nelson is discussing at least three options: delaying ebook releases; “stag[ing] the channel rollout of certain frontlist titles” (the implied meaning is that they would not sell some hardcovers to mass merchandisers at all in the first release window, but […]
NY Stores Plan Celebration
The IBNYC–a New York alliance of over 60 independent booksellers–has declared November 15 through 21 Independent Bookstore Week. The celebration begins early, on November 11, with a party at the PowerHouse Area featuring authors including Jennifer Egan and Kurt Andersen, as “individual stores will sponsor special events and promotions of their own throughout the week.” It concludes on what they call America Unchained Day. They will have a calendar of events at the group’s web site (though it currently lists only three events that week).
Lunch Weekly for Monday, October 26
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 Mother to director Sam Mendes and author of four acclaimed young-adult […]