#1 Pick: Left Neglected: A Novel, by Lisa GenovaA Lonely Death: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery, by Charles ToddThe Poison Tree: A Novel, by Erin KellyThe Lake of Dreams: A Novel, by Kim EdwardsClara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel, by Susan VreelandBattle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy ChuaBird Cloud: A Memoir, by Annie ProulxThe Radleys: A Novel, by Matt HaigUnless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing, by Roger RosenblattThe Year of the Hare: A Novel, by Arto PaasilinnaGideon’s War: A Novel, by Howard GordonToward the Setting Sun: John Ross, the Cherokees and the […]
After Another Terrible Quarter, Borders Warns of New Liquidity Threat
Borders reported third-quarter results after the close of the market on Thursday, and their report card is as dreadful as many feared. They are losing even more money than before and sales continue to fall at alarming rates. As part of the report, they also warn of another looming liquidity threat. The company is forced again to look for “replacement financing,” following the continuing losses and a low third-party “estimated liquidation value of our inventory” (which is their primary asset, and affects how much they can borrow.) If they can’t find a solution, they warn they could be in violation […]
Amazon Provides Authors with Limited Nielsen BookScan Data
As of today Amazon is letting authors enrolled in their “Author Central” program (e.g. FiledBy for Amazon) access a small window of Nielsen BookScan sales data for their own books. Needless to say, the offer is a major inducement for authors not already enrolled to sign up for the Author Central. The program shows the most recent four weeks of sales as tracked by Nielsen, on a week-by-week basis. It also provides geographical breakdowns, showing the same limited data set according to local DMA markets. They provide a nice visual national mapping of the data that Nielsen itself provides to […]
Amazon’s New Slippery Slope: Selling Purported WikiLeaks Material As An eBook
Amazon stumbled last month in deciding whether or not to sell a self-published ebook on pedophilia, at first saying “it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable,” but then removing the work without further comment in the face of public and media outcry. The company has already been in the hotseat once this month in connection with the WikiLeaks release of 250,000 classified US foreign relations cables–briefly hosting the site through its web services division, but then removing the material for violating the company’s posted terms of service. Yet Amazon […]
Waterstone’s Remains Rosy On Neverending “Turnaround” As Comps Still Fall
Waterstone’s parent HMV reported sales for the first half of the fiscal year at the bookselling chain of 219.5 million pounds, down 2.4 percent overall, and declining 3.2 percent on a same-store basis. They had an operating loss of 9.9 million pounds, which is better than the loss of 12.9 million pounds a year go. In the best stiff-upper-lip tradition available, management insists that they are making “good progress on [the] turnaround at Waterstone’s.” At the same time HMV reminds investors that “the outcome of our full financial year will be largely determined by the next four weeks of the […]
The Best of 2010 Lists Keep Coming: Slate, Indigo, NPR, Horn
It’s boom times for the best books of the year lists. Here are the favorite books from among Slate’s reviewers: FictionThe Ask by Sam Lipsyte C by Tom McCarthy The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason The New Yorker Stories by Ann Beattie Room by Emma Donoghue Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan Nonfiction The Backlash by Will Bunch The Big Short by Michael Lewis The Conservative Assault on the Constitution […]