Baker & Taylor has announced a “paradigm shift to category buying” to serve customers better “and respond to market changes.” EVP of merchandising and president, retail markets David Cully says: “The Merchandise Buyer function focuses on leveraging category expertise as a sales advantage in the retail and library markets. Likewise, the Merchandise Planner function focuses on data mining and statistical modeling to improve forecasting and reduce friction in the supply chain.. SVP merchandising Jean Srnecz will supervise both the divisional Merchandising directors [Allen Johnson: basics (nonfiction), Sally Neher: fashion (key new releases and Speedstock), Rick Shalayda: children’s and small press, […]
Distribution News: Trafalgar Square Adds Nine
Trafalgar Square is now distributing the following well-known UK publishers in the US market: The History PressOneWorld Classics/Calder PublicationsPiatkus Books along with: Alma BooksAngry PenguinCadmos BooksCapuchin ClassicsPushkin PressSpy Publishing Previously, MBI distributed select imprint from The History Press, as did NBN, which also distributed Alma, OneWorld, Piatkus and Pushkin. The other four have not been distributed in North America before.
BN Moves and Expands A Rare Book Department
Barnes & Noble’s small rare- and out-of-print-book department at their recently-closed Chelsea store in NYC will relocate at the chain’s store on Broadway and 66th Street, “where it will soon be moved from the third floor to a more prominent location on the second floor.” The NYT adds: “Barnes & Noble says it does not plan to replicate the effort in other stores, it is also not taking its commitment lightly: it is spending a significant sum on the department, installing custom display cases with locked glass doors.”NYT
Pre-Pub Buzz for "Guernsey"
Last Friday’s WSJ highlighted hopes for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, “a debut novel with several strikes against it [that] may become one of the summer’s surprise hits.” Notably, “one of its co-authors died earlier this year when it was being edited.” But Dial says it will ship 100,000 copies, noting that booksellers “began to send unsolicited emails expressing their affection” after a broad distribution of advanced readers’ copies. “Barnes & Noble and Costco have placed large orders” and it’s the No. 1 IndieBound pick for August as well.WSJ
What Does It Meant When Authors Write to Dear Abby?
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Scott,” and I are writers, although we both have day jobs. During the two years we’ve been together, we have always supported each other’s writing careers. Things changed after my first novel was published. While initially congratulatory, Scott’s behavior was different as the publication date neared. He declined to help my friend throw me a party. When I spotted my book on the shelf of a bookstore for the first time, he chided me to keep my voice down. My novel has now been out for months, but he still hasn’t read it. (I gave him […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, July 14
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 Columbia MFA graduate Michael White’s THE FROGMAN OF DAVENPORT, pitched as […]