According to Nielsen Bookscan, unit book sales in the UK for 2008 were down by just 0.4 percent, while revenue declined 1.6 percent to 1.773 billion pounds. Revenue was up 3.7 percent for the first half of the year, but declined 5 percent during the second half.
Some Big Titles on the Way
The WSJ highlights a few big releases, including the announced 2.8 million-copy first printing for John Grisham’s The Associate, publishing January 27. Others mentioned include Jodi Picoult’s Handle with Care, James Patterson’s nonfiction book The Murder of King Tut, Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones, Sara Gruen’s Ape House, and Emmanuel Jal’s War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story.WSJ
Holiday Layoffs at Baker & Taylor
The wholesaler, which had credit insurance cover pulled by Euler Hermes earlier this month, has laid off “just under” 60 people, or 2 percent of overall staff. Included in the cuts are two executives for entertainment and music purchasing, LJ reports. CEO Thomas Morgan says “We have taken a fresh look at our organizational structure and made some adjustments…. We are continuing to pursue retail business that meets our financial objectives and are moving forward with a number of new retail accounts.” He notes, “During challenging economic times, it is our desire to cut all non-employee expenses first, but we […]
What Oprah Will Promote In January
Starting Monday January 5 Oprah Winfrey will “get back on the wagon” with a variety of her lifestyle experts. Lunch already reported the featured Suze Orman appearance and free ebook giveaway; an Amazon page now highlights the author books and authors. They include Bob Greene’s Bob Greene’s The Best Life Diet Cookbook; Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz’s You: Being Beautiful; Michael Bernard Beckwith’s Spiritual Liberation; Elizabeth Lesser’s Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow; and and Laura Berman’s Real Sex For Real Women. The week of new broadcasts will be followed by a week of related webcasts.
Amazon Organizes By Author
Hot on the heels of the pre-beta introduction of FiledBy Author, Amazon has launched the beta version of their new construct for finally organizing book data and discussions around authors. Called Author Stores (which seems like a misnomer at the moment, since they are not “stores” controlled by authors at all), the site describes the feature as “new corners of our bookstore dedicated to offering customers a new way to browse and shop favorite authors, discover new books, and more. Today each Author Store includes a bibliography, and can include a biography, author photo, and discussion board. But stay tuned–we’ll […]
Lerner Pulls Angel Girl
Lerner Publishing Group, also duped into publishing Herman Rosenblat’s fake Holocaust love story in the children’s book ANGEL GIRL (released this September), is recalling the book. The company is “issuing refunds on all returned books” and “no longer offering the book for sale.” They say in a statement they were “shocked and disappointed to learn that the widely publicized” story was fabricated. Author Laurie Friedman, who had interviewed the Rosenblats to retell their story for children, says “throughout the development of this book, the Rosenblats reviewed my manuscript and assured me of the authenticity of the details of their story. […]