Citing a “tough consumer environment” and in particular a “a weaker book market,” HMV said in a brief trading update for the 18 weeks weeks ending August 30 that same-store sales at the Waterstone’s chain fell 4.3 percent, and declined 1.7 percent after you take out Harry Potter. Total sales at Waterstone’s fell 5.9 percent for the period. The chain launched the Sony Reader yesterday with about 7,000 titles available (they expect to have about 20,000 titles by the end of the year) and has enrolled 1.8 million loyalty card members.Statement
Sedita to Run Grossett and PSS; Ford Leaves HBG; New Boomsbury Line; More Personnel and Distribution News
Francesco Sedita has been named vp, publisher of Grosset & Dunlap and Price, Stern Sloan, reporting to Penguin Children’s president Don Weisberg and starting September 29. Most recently he was executive creative director at Scholastic, where he worked for the past seven years. Weisberg says, “Francesco’s varied background in creative marketing, school book clubs, in addition to his involvement with the campaigns for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Brian Selznick’s award-wining The Invention of Hugo Cabret, makes him the perfect fit. For Grosset and PSS, I was searching for someone who is totally immersed in the trends of […]
'Rich Dad' Suit Settled
Sharon Lechter, former partner of Rich Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, has received an undisclosed sum to settle her suit against Kiyosaki and his wife and has sold Kiyosaki her interest in the Rich Dad Co. AZ Central notes that “Lechter had alleged that the Kiyosakis had enriched themselves, diverted assets and wasted money in a business that she claimed to have helped build from scratch. Lechter also had claimed that she ‘often rewrote large sections’ of books she and Robert Kiyosaki co-authored.” Lechter left the company last year, and her suit was set for trial at the end of December […]
"Happy Bookseller" to Close
Columbia, SC-based Happy Bookseller, “the city’s most well-known independent bookstore,” will close in October. The paper reports that owners Andy and Carrie Graves mailed customers with the news last week. “We’re very sad this is all going to end. The reality is we don’t have a choice.” They add: “Sales peaked in 1993, Andy Graves said. They have been steadily declining but the last four to five years have been particularly hard, he said.” Rhett Jackson started the store in 1974 and solve it to Andy Graves, an employee, in 1996. Jackson says, “I babied that and loved it and […]
October Indie Next List
The Given Day: A Novel by Dennis LehaneDewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron, with Bret Witter The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson Serena: A Novel by Ron Rash American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum The Other Queen: A Novel by Philippa Gregory Goldengrove: A Novel by Francine Prose Downtown Owl: A Novel by Chuck Klosterman The Forever War by Dexter Filkins A Most Wanted Man by John le CarreThe Archangel Project by C.S. Graham Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de […]
One-Stop eServices for Perseus Clients
Perseus has officially announced their program to help physical distribution clients and their own publishing units streamline participation in a variety of digital and ebook sales and promotion/visibility programs. In development for months and dubbed Constellation, Perseus calls it a “‘one-stop shop’ digital offering” to help “independent publishers exploit the sales and marketing opportunities created by the rapid developments of digital technology.” Participating publishers supply a single print-ready PDF file and then “will have complete control over what books they make available for what services.” Current choices from what will be an expanding menu of options include ebook sales through […]