The Los Angeles Times kicked off their weekend festival of books with the naming of their annual book prize winners, which included: Fiction: Marilynne Robinson, HOMEFirst Fiction: Zoe Ferraris, FINDING NOUFYoung Adult: Terry Pratchett, NATIONCurrent Interest: Barton Gellman, ANGLER: The Cheney Vice Presidency Though this year’s awards presentation was downsized to the newspaper’s offices and not open to the public, LA Observed says “LAT publisher Eddy Hartenstein pledged publicly that the Times Book Prizes would continue next year, and at least some judges were already asked to return.” On Saturday afternoon, heavy winds knocked down a scaffolding on the UCLA […]
Exhibitors and Attendees Fall at BEA, As Publishers and Organizers Try New Things
Yes it’s the London Book Fair that just ended, not Book Expo America,but the story for the upcoming American show is already taking clearshape, and we’d like to get past what won’t happen realistically and onto what can happen. Going by current tracking, show organizers say to expect roughly 20percent fewer exhibitors (around 1,500 to 1,600, rather than the typical1,900 to 2000); and about 15 percent fewer attendees than the 2007 NY show but 20 percent more than last year in LA, with a steeperdrop of more like thirty percent among attending exhibitors. There are likely to be fewer ABA […]
Pub Date, 4 O'Clock: Perseus to Make a Book and Publish Live from the BEA Floor
This year at BEA, in addition to presenting forthcoming books thetraditional way, Perseus Books Group will give over a prime slice oftheir booth to an ambitious project that makes transparent the entireprocess of creating and publishing book–and aspires to make it allhappen in less than two days. The book is called BOOK: The Sequel, and on an hour-by-hour schedulestill being finalized, they intend to edit, design, produce, sell,publicize/promote and publish live before fairgoers’ eyes (and with theirparticipation)–one at a time via an Espresso Book Machine they expectto have in their booth but also in all major formats and platforms(audio; digital […]
Mormon Church-Owned Deseret Book Chain Pulls Stephenie Meyer From Shelves
The bookseller will only sell her books by special order going forward. Spokesperson Leigh Dethman says: “Like any retailer, our purpose is to offer products that are embraced and expected by our customers. When we find products that are met with mixed review, we typically move them to special order status.Salt Lake Tribune
Little, Brown's New Look
For the first time in more than seventy years, Little, Brown and its children’s division have new logos, created by typographer and graphic artist Lance Hidy:
Amazon Continues Growth, But Media Sales Lag
Overall sales for the first quarter at Amazon.com increased by 18 percent to $4.89 billion, as operating income increased 23 percent to $244 million in the first quarter, and net income rose 24 percent to $177 million. But the growth was driven heavily by electronics, as the media segment–which includes books and digital downloads among other items–continues to lag the company’s overall performance. North American media sales of $1.305 billion were up 8 percent compared to a year (similar to the rise in the previous quarter), while international media sales of $1.418 billion were up just six percent, held back […]