Having built a large audience for free documents, Scribd.com launches their beta Scribd store today with a model for paid written content that gives rightsholders 80 percent of the revenue. Scribd also lets rightsholders set the prices for their content, with current offerings ranging from $1 up to $5,000 (for market research report on China). Among participating publishers noted in the release are Lonely Planet, Berrett-Koehler and O’Reilly. The store is currently available only in the US though the company promises “international launches to follow.” They will add an iPhone app shortly. Since Scribd displays documents of all lengths, the […]
Book Comps Rise at Hastings, Even As Overall Results Fall
First quarter sales at Hastings fell $6.2 million, or 4.7 percent, to $126 million, while net earnings were nearly halved, at $1.7 million. But same-store sales for books actually rose slightly–by 0.2 percent on an absolute basis, or by 1.7 percent if you account for the extra day of sales in the quarter last year (on February 29). Though the benefits may not have gone to book publishers, since the company says “strong sales of used and value books, as well as strong sales of new hardbacks were offset by lower sales of magazines.”Release
People and Awards
Former svp and executive director of publicity and public relations at the Bantam Dell Publishing Group Barb Burg has launched a new company, barb burg ink, offering publicity, public relations, media training, media placement, publishing strategy and brand management services. Endeavor agents Kirby Kim and Rebecca Oliver and subrights manager Laura Bonner will join the merged WME Entertainment, according to the Observer. Australian author Christos Tsiolkas won the overall Commonwealth Writers’ Award for best book for THE SLAP, “about middle-class suburban Australia and its notions of child-rearing and acceptable behavior.” Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif won the best first book award […]
Don't Get Kindled by Someone Else
We’ve been waiting to see if there would be any real news today, but it’s looking like a summer Friday, so there are just a number of short items below. This recent TechCrunch posting should serve as a warning to all, however. Amazon’s new open “Kindle Yourself” invitation to bloggers unfortunately also made it easy for people to register and claim blogs–like Tech Crunch–that do not belong to them. As part of that discovery, author Paul Carr told Tech Crunch he recently uploaded his book BRINGING NOTHING TO THE PARTY onto Kindle (since the print edition is available only in […]
People
Josalyn Moran will join Chronicle as children’s publishing director, officially starting June 10 though also attending BEA with the company. Moran is charged with “overseeing and spearheading the growth” of the company’s children’s line, encompassing both books and “innovative formats.” She has been vp, children’s books at Barnes & Noble for the past nine years (and was associate publisher at North-South Books before working at the bookseller). The ABA membership formally ratified Michael Tucker of Books Inc. as president and Becky Anderson as vice president/secretary.
"Make Books" Makes Some Employees Vent
Just like the old adage about the production of sausages (and legislation), the making of Borders’ recent initiative to focus on a few selected “make books” has produced a venting of angry Internet posts from anonymous people who say they are employees (and former employees) of the chain. The intensity and number of the posts rose after the AP story on the program earlier this month, and a brief PW post summarizing the wire story. The posters allege intense pressure from Borders headquarters and store management to meet sales quotas on the make books. Many claim that early on executives […]