TODAY'S NEWS

The Nook is Barnes & Noble Top Seller
By Jim Milliot
The Nook has become the fastest selling single item at Barnes & Noble since the retailer introduced the e-reader October 20, company CEO Steve Riggio said in Tuesday morning’s investor presentation. Last week, Amazon reported that the Kindle was its fastest selling product in both unit and dollar terms. Neither company has disclosed the number of devices that have been sold and/or ordered, but B&N.com president William Lynch told analysts the company expects to get a “big chunk” of the 900,000 e-readers that some analysts believe will be sold over the holidays. Riggio said B&N’s goal for the holidays is to make sure they have enough Nooks in stock to meet demand. B&N plans to start shipping Nooks November 30. Read on »

Barnes & Noble Sees Store Consolidation Ahead
By Jim Milliot
Not all of Barnes & Noble’s investor presentation Tuesday morning dealt with digital issues. A number of executives said the company’s long-term health depends on the continued steady performance of its bricks-and-mortar stores. That health, executives said, will be aided by further consolidation in the bookstore field. B&N is “highly confident” that the industry will consolidate over the next few years, COO Mitch Klipper said. “There are 1,500 superstores now, there won’t be 1,500 five years from now,” CFO Joe Lombardi added. (B&N has about 700 superstores). B&N estimates it has a 17% share of the bookselling market, a percentage that should increase as consolidation among competitors takes hold. Read on »

Lorena Jones New Publishing Director at Chronicle
By Lynn Andriani
Chronicle Books announced yesterday that former Ten Speed Press publisher Lorena Jones has taken over as publishing director. In her new role, Jones will begin a digital food and drink publishing program, and oversee Chronicle’s food and drink list as a whole. Read on »

North Star Press Tries Some New Things at 40
By Claire Kirch
North Star Press of St. Cloud, Minn. is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year as a family-run regional press. Founded in 1969 by John Dwyer, previously the business manager of the Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minn., the press has been passed down from grandmother down to daughter-in-law down to granddaughter.

Six months after starting North Star, Dwyer died, leaving the press in the hands of his widow, Rita Dwyer. Although she still occasionally proofreads manuscripts, Rita Dwyer retired in 2001, leaving the press in the hands of her eldest son’s wife, Corinne Dwyer. Today, Corinne runs the press, together with her eldest daughter, Seal Dwyer, 29, assisted by Seal Dwyer’s husband, Brandon Paumen. All North Star titles are distributed by Partners Distribution. Read on »

The PW Morning Report
By Craig Morgan Teicher
Payin’ Palin; Writers Spell for Literature; China vs. Google; Electric Lit Mag; Kindle for PC and Mac. Read on »

Blogs

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: How to Make Love Like a Porn Star; Style and Substance; Ayn Rand and the World She Made
Today, Oprah hosts Jenna Jameson, author of How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale (It Books, 978-0060539092, $32.99), which PW considered “destined to become a lowbrow classic… it's a remarkably appealing and honest mess, and should earn Jameson some of the mainstream acceptance she so clearly desires.” Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Jackets Required
On October 21, the artists who started designing jackets for Knopf in the late 1980s were reunited on stage at the New School in New York City to discuss some of the iconic covers they created and the challenges that affect book design today. Pictured (l. to r.) are: Chip Kidd, Archie Ferguson, Carol Devine Carson, Barbara de Wilde, and moderator Peter Terzian. Photo credit: Henry Yee Submit your pictures here »