As Sumner Redstone continues to renegotiate $1.6 billion in debt–half of which is due on December 19–the financial world still expects that he will have to sell part of his public stock, even though he has insisted repeatedly he will not do so. The NYT says, “Here is what just about everyone, including those in Mr. Redstone’s inner circle, agrees on: if it gets bad enough, Mr. Redstone has indicated he would be willing to part with CBS, but not Viacom, according to three people briefed on the talks who, like the others involved, spoke on condition of anonymity.” Analyst […]
Borders Original Voices Nominees
The retailer announced nominees for their 13th annual Original Voices awards in four categories. Winners will be named in January. The fiction candidates are: Dear American Airlines, by Jonathan MilesThe Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven GallowayThe Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti The Lace Reader, by Brunonia Barry The Somnambulist, by Jonathan BarnesThe White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga Release
New and/or Different: Press Has Subscribers; Book Has Sponsors; Pan Takes a Stanza
* We’ve often wondered about the possibilities of subscription programs to bring publishers–particularly those with a consistent focus–closer to their core readers. (As noted here previously, Powell’s has been building a strong foundation for their subscription program Indiespensable. It turns out that the recently-launched Open Letter press, based at the University of Rochester and specializing in literature in translation, is selling “season subscriptions” to their list. They’ve offered the six fall titles for $65 plus shipping, or 12 fall and spring 09 titles for $120 plus shipping. Chad Post says subscriptions were part of their plan “right from the start.” […]
More Voices: Pat Holt Returns, and Why RH Canada Doesn't Need BEC
Pat Holt has restarted her online column Holt Uncensored. The first of three things she would like to see is live, online royalty accounting for authors: “If you were an author, wouldn’t it be great if your publisher gave you a password to your own royalty account? This would be an online, frequently updated, always accessible, entirely confidential page on your publisher’s website that would replace the current system. As frequently as you wish, you could check sales of your book, the rate of returns, the percentage taken out for reserves and varying royalty rates for bulk sales, special sales, […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, November 24
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 Holly LeCraw’s THE SWIMMING POOL, in which, years after an affair […]
Books-A-Million Comp: Minus 9.9 Percent
Announcing third quarter results, Books-a-Million said that sales of $111 million were down 5.7 percent overall, and down 9.9 percent on a same-store sales basis. Their net loss was $2.2 million, compared to a loss of $555,000 a year ago. CEO Sandra Cochran says: “We faced dramatic macroeconomic headwinds, and as a result we experienced our weakest comparable store sales in many years. The negative trends were broadly felt across most categories although bargain books, gifts and teen provided positive results. Our entire team remains focused on adjusting to this difficult environment by controlling costs, managing inventory and preparing for […]