Robin’s Bookstore, started and “believed to be Philadelphia’s oldest independent book seller, is calling it quits at the end of January.” With sales falling “as much as 15 percent in recent months,” owner Larry Robin says business has gone “from bad bearable to bad unbearable.”Inquirer
HMH Officially Has No Idea What They Mean
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s botched public expression of their current acquisitions policy has reached comic levels. In the latest installment, vp of communications Josef Blumenfeld confirms for the AP our report from an agent earlier today that the children’s trade division is still buying projects. Otto Penzler adds that the freeze was news to him, and says that a “high-level Houghton executive” told him he could continue to acquire for his line of mysteries. “‘Does this mean I can keep buying books?'” he asked. “‘Absolutely,’ I was told.” Blumenfeld tries to persuade the AP that “talk of a freeze had been […]
No More Kindles for X-Mas
Amazon is sold out of Kindles and is saying that it will take “11 to 13 weeks” to ship new orders. A notice on the site says, “Due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is sold out.” As ever, theories abound, while facts are few. Did Oprah drive more sales than expected? Are they letting the current version of the Kindle sell out while they prepare to replace it with Kindle 2.0?Silicon Alley Insider In other e-news, the Christian Science Monitor blogs about Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s program of about 15 books formatted for the iPhone. They are working with ScrollMotion, a […]
Nintendo's Game Boy eReader
Some of us have wondered for the better part of a decade when NIntendo would take its huge platform of game-devices and use them as electronic readers. After many rumors, the company now appears set with a December 26 release of their first title in the UK–a collection of 100 classic books, plus the ability to download ten more using the Nintendo DS’s wi-fi capabilities. The cartridge lists for 19.99 pounds. The promotional copy says, “Hold the DS like a book and use the touch screen to turn the pages.”Amazon UK offerUK game site
People and More
Julia Churchill is joining the Greenhouse Literary Agency. She was an agent with the Darley Anderson Agency, specializing in children’s fiction. At Random House Audio, Rebecca Waugh has been promoted to senior acquisitions editor for Listening Library. In the UK, Jamie Magazine–featuring Jamie Oliver–launches this week, exclusive to WH Smith stores for the first three issues. Unusually, the Guardian says the magazine is funded directed by Oliver, at a cost of 250,000 pounds. Augsburg Fortress, the publishing arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America based in Minneapolis, announced last month it would end its consumer book publishing line to […]
Parent Co. "Would Consider" Selling HMH Trade
With general bafflement continuing over Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s willingness to admit out loud that they have a freeze on buying new books, the NYT speaks to Jeremy Dickens, president of Education Media and Publishing Group, the private equity company that owns the trade publisher. “He denied that the company was for sale, but said, ‘If there’s a transaction that makes sense for all of our stakeholders, we’ll consider it.'” And “he said that the company had received inquiries from other trade publishers interested in acquiring Houghton.” On the freeze, Dickens said they wanted to be “extremely prudent about the way […]