First quarter sales at Borders fell 12.1 percent overall at $641.5 million, with same-store sales down 13.5 percent at the superstores and down 5.5 percent at Waldenbooks. Superstores and Borders.com comprised $536.7 million of sales, with just $76.9 million coming from the 376 Waldens open at the end of the quarter. International sales, primarily from Paperchase, fell 14.9 percent to $27.9 million, suffering from the fall in the pound. The company lost $15.9 million or 27 cents per share on an operating basis–better than last year’s loss, and better than the 50-cent loss analysts expected–but the total loss was $86 […]
People: Howard Adds Two Execs
Becky Nesbitt will join Howard Books as vp, editor-in-chief on June 1 and Jennifer Willingham has already started as vp, publicity. Nesbitt was at Tyndale House for 16 years, most recently as associate publisher for nonfiction (though she led the fiction acquisitions team prior to that). Willingham worked for Guideposts Books most recently, and has also worked at Thomas Nelson and B&H. Recently appointed publisher Jonathan Merkh says that “moving the business to Nashville has enabled us to attract key talent to further fuel our growth. With the backing of Simon & Schuster and our new staff additions, we are […]
Ingram Combines Three Units Into One; B&T Partners with Overdrive
Ingram is reorganizing to put wholesaler Ingram Book Group, Ingram Digital and Lightning Source into a single company, Ingram Content Group, under president and ceo David “Skip” Prichard. Ingram Digital chief commercial officer Frank Daniels will leave the company in July. John Ingram says in the announcement, “When people think of Ingram, they expect a full range of content services – the physical and the digital – and they want to get what they need without having to spend one extra minute remembering which of our businesses provides which service.” He also notes, “Over the past decade, we recognized we […]
People: Salvatore to Lead Broadway, and More
Broadway has hired Diane Salvatore as vp, publisher, effective immediately, reporting to Crown Publishing Group president Jenny Frost. Deputy editorial director Charlie Conrad and the rest of the Broadway editorial staff now report to Salvatore. A longtime magazine editor, she was editor in chief of of Ladies’ Home Journal for six years, through July 2008, where she relaunched it as “a modern magazine with lush photography and sophisticated design, while continuing and amplifying its tradition for high-quality journalism and social advocacy.” She published short fiction by authors including Lesley Dormen and Elizabeth Berg in the magazine, and is the author […]
The Things that Are Having Trouble Selling Round-Up
The AP reports a variety of grim measures of decline in the audiobook market. The 14 publishers who report audio sales to the AAP cite a 47 percent drop in revenue so far in 2009, while those physical audiobook sales tracked via Nielsen BookScan (which does not include any downloadable audio) have declined 20 percent in units for the year to date.AP As for individuals, writer-filmmaker John Sayles’ sweeping new 1,000-page novel SOME TIME IN THE SUN has failed to find a publisher since first going on submission last fall. Agent Anothny Arnove tells the LAT, “When I went out […]
Things On the Market or Recently Sold
Over the weekend the NYT reported on former Vice President Dick Cheney’s campaign for a book deal, represented by Bob Barnett. “A person familiar with discussions Mr. Cheney has had with publishers said he was seeking more than $2 million for his advance.” But “Cheney’s friends say he does not need the money and has made clear in his talks that he is eager to give a full accounting of his life in politics that will debunk his many critics. According to a person familiar with a meeting that Mr. Cheney had with a publisher, the former vice president is […]