TODAY'S NEWS

Books-A-Million Posts First-Quarter Gains
By Jim Milliot
Books-A-Million followed Barnes & Noble by delivering better than expected first-quarter results, and the nation’s third largest bookstore chain even managed to post a 2.0% sales increase in the period, with revenue hitting $118.2 million. Net income also rose, increasing to $2.1 million from $906,000. Comp store sales declined 1.1%, a better performance than in recent quarters. Clyde Anderson, BAM chairman and CEO, said that given the difficult economic environment, "we’re pleased with our numbers." Read on »

Kids, Cooking High on Marshall's To Do List for Borders
By Vickie Elmer
Borders Group is counting on books for kids and kitchens to provide some growth in a tough economic environment. It also will rely on continued spending cuts and a new just-in-time book buying approach, CEO Ron Marshall said at a lightly attended annual shareholders meeting Thursday. According to Marshall, Borders will turn much of its dying music and movies section space into bigger childrens' book areas, and also will beef up cooking and health selections. Read on »

Scholastic Cuts 11 at Trade, Klutz
By Jim Milliot
Scholastic, which has been steadily reducing its workforce for about 18 months, eliminated 11 positions last week in its trade and Klutz divisions. The move comes less than two months after Debra Lande was named publisher of Klutz, Scholastic’s “books plus” division. Among those leaving in the downsizing were Margaret Coffee, director of field sales; and executive editor Grace Maccarone, who had been with the company for 30 years.

No Stay on CPSIA-Mandated Tracking Labels
By Karen Raugust
Late last week, the two current members of the Consumer Products Safety Commission denied a request from children’s products industries to grant a stay of enforcement on the tracking label provision of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, with acting head Nancy Nord voting for the stay and Thomas Moore against. Therefore, the tracking label provisions under section 103 of the CPSIA will go into effect this August as scheduled. Manufacturers had asked for the stay because the CPSC has not yet issued guidance on how publishers and other companies can comply with the provision, making it difficult for product marketers to meet the deadline.

The tracking label provision affects all children’s books, including the post-1985 ink-on-paper and ink-on-board formats that fall under the previous stay of enforcement addressing the Act’s lead-content requirements. We'll provide more information on the CPSIA-mandated tracking labels as more details emerge.

eMusic Adds Audiobooks from Recorded Books and HighBridge
By Lynn Andriani
eMusic’s audiobook catalog has officially surpassed 7,000 titles. The expansion is due to new agreements to sell DRM-free audiobooks from Recorded Books and HighBridge Audio. eMusic has also recently added Sounds True, Gildan Media, Oasis Audio and PublicAffairs to its roster. Read on »

Blogs

MORE STORIES

Meeting Rick Riordan: Claire and Rachel’s Excellent Adventure
By Claire Krich
PW’s Midwest correspondent takes her daughter on a road trip to meet Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan.

Rick Riordan, author of the popular Percy Jackson series, has some very loyal fans among the prepubescent set. But none of them is a bigger fan than my 11-year-old daughter, Rachel, who has enjoyed the adventures of the Young Olympians since I bought her a paperback copy of The Lightning Thief three years ago. I remember telling her at the time that several booksellers had mentioned it to me, so it must be a good read. Even though that first book was obtained a year after its 2005 pub date, Rachel has gotten her hands on every other Percy Jackson book on its street date. Read on »

Monday's Reviews Today: Nicholson Baker's 10th & An Early Mobster
In Nicholson Baker's "lovely" new novel, The Anthologist, a writer, with a looming deadline and credit card debt, has been dealt a dual blow—he has writer's block and was just dumped. Per our review: "Baker pulls off an original and touching story, demonstrating his remarkable writing ability while putting it under a microscope." And in Mike Dash's The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia, the bestselling historian "presents an enthralling account" of Giuseppe Morello, a man who, after arriving in New York City in 1892, went on to become one of the city's most powerful crime overlords. Says PW: "Readers may think they know the mob, but Morello’s ruthless rule makes even the fictional Tony Soprano look tame." Read on »

Comings and Goings
If you've been laid off or recently left your job and would like to pass along your contact information to others in the business, send details to pwletters@reedbusiness.com. Please include your full name and former title/company.

Joanne Young, former director of marketing at Baker & Taylor can now be reached at jgyoung2727@hotmail.com.

Nancy Grubb, former executive managing editor at Phaidon Press, New York, can be reached at njgrubb@yahoo.com.

You can find a full list of all those who have appeared in Comings and Goings here.

The PW Morning Report
Palin’s Ghostwriter; Sci-Fi Writers Plan Homeland Security's Future; O'Reilly's Twitter Scorecard; BookScan and E-Books. Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: The Hunger; Olive Kitteridge; After Etan
Today on The Early Show, restaurateur John DeLucie experienced The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, and Ambition (Ecco, 978-0061579240, $23.99). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Giving Back in Galveston
On May 8, at the 2009 Galveston Historic Preservation Awards held in Galveston, Tex., Arcadia Publishing presented a check for $20,000 to the Galveston Historical Foundation. The money came from proceeds the South Carolina-based publisher made on its first printing of Galveston: A City on Stilts; the book was released shortly after Hurricane Ike tore through Galveston in September 2008. Pictured here (l. to r.) are: Richard Joseph, Arcadia president and CEO; Kristie Kelly, Arcadia Southwest publisher; Dwayne Jones, Galveston Historical Foundation executive director; and Tom Schwenk, Galveston Historical Foundation president. Read on »

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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