Following our report from a week ago that Joseph-Beth Booksellers was closing stores in Pittsburgh and Charlotte, NC, yesterday the group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Lexington, KY and indicated that they will close another store in Cleveland and a Davis-Kidd store in Nashville. Owner Neil Van Uum said in statement, “Davis-Kidd has been an institution in Nashville. It breaks my heart to have to close this store.” Former co-owner Karen Davis was taken by surprise and “very disappointed and saddened” as well. “I think it holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts.” The company […]
People, Distribution, Etc.
Andrea Walker has been promoted to editor at Reagan Arthur Books, where she was associate editor. Alessandra Bastagli will join Free Press as senior editor, beginning November 29. Since 2005, she has been at Palgrave Macmillan, most recently as executive editor. A celebration of the life of the late Ralph Vicinanza has been announced:Tuesday, December 76 – 8 PMBruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln CenterThe New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 111 Amsterdam Avenue (between 64th & 65th Streets) In distribution news, Publishers Group West will begin providing digital distribution services only through Constellation for Entrepreneur Press and Naval […]
Giller Controversy Continues, In Two Forms
The Canadian trade continues to be worked up that small “artisanal” Gaspereau Press doesn’t want to change their bookmaking ways now that Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists has won the Giller Prize. Award founder Jack Rabinovitch made it clear to co-owner Gary Dunfield, “I would like to see the books out.” And he tells the Globe and Mail, “he’s given me the assurance and he promised to get back to me tomorrow [Friday] night.” But Dunfield tells the paper, “I think at this point we’re deciding early next week,” having already said he and his partner were looking at “three or […]
Wimpy Kid More Nearly Doubles Hefty Bush Opening-Day Sales
Jeff Kinney’s DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: The Ugly Truth, the fifth in his bestselling series, sold over 375,000 copies in its first day on sale according to publisher Abrams. The launch included an event at Book People in Austin, TX, where the author addressed over 1,600 fans to kick off his tour. The specially-branded tour bus will take Kinney to events in Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham, AL, with up to 2,000 fans expected in the various venues. That opening-day sale is said to be up 50 percent from the big first day for the fourth book in […]
Amazon Bows to Customer and Media Firestorm, Removes Self-Published Pedophilia File
Having encouraged an atmosphere of customer anger over issues like ebook pricing, Amazon experienced a surge of backlash over a reprehensible self-published ebook on pedophilia and reversed position, removing the book from their site. Phillip Greaves’ The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure was posted as a Kindle ebook on October 28, and discovered by the internet–and then worldwide media–yesterday. At first Amazon tried defending the product (sorry, but it’s not worthy of calling this file a book) and generally hiding from the media onslaught, reportedly saying the company “believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because […]
Ad Recovery Continues to Help Bertelsmann Results
Bertelsmann has reported continuing strength in their business, with sales for the third quarter of 3.649 billion euros and operating EBIT of 265 million euros, yielding after-tax profit of 111 million euros. (In the European tradition, they simply report results for the first 9 months of the year; we subtract out and isolate the most recent quarter, since the other results have already been reported.) The company says results were “fueled by a recovery in the overall economy including an upturn in the advertising industry; long-view cost measures; and a brisk business performance both in conventional and digital media.” They […]