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First Day Heavyweights: Dugard Moves 175k; Martin's 'Dragons' Tops 298k
On Tuesday, two books broke records for opening-day book sales: Jaycee Dugard's memoir A Stolen Life sold a total of 175,000 copies, and George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons achieved the highest single- and first-day sales of any new fiction title published this year in the U.S. and Canada with 298,000 copies in print, digital, and audio formats.
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Creditors Committee Files Objections to Borders Proposal
The creditors committee has filed an objection asking the bankruptcy judge to deny Borders bid procedures motion as well as the breakup fee for BBB.
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Borders Defends Sales Timeline
As landlords of more than a hundred Borders locations continued to pile on their objections to the compressed time frame of the retailer’s proposed sales process, Borders responded late yesterday afternoon saying the schedule is key to getting the best possible outcome.
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Landlords Object to Borders's Sale Procedures
In separate filings, landlords for about 50 Borders locations raised objections to the compressed time frame for the Borders auction, scheduled to take place on July 19.
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Bookstores as Classrooms
As booksellers look for new services to attract customers, many are increasingly turning to language and writing classes, and are even teaching mah-jongg and tarot. "You name it, we'll do it if it has any relationship to being able to read," says Elaine Petrocelli, co-owner of Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., which has been offering classes for the past 18 years.
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Lock, Stock, and Publisher
Booksellers have the industry connections to publish their books just about anywhere, but for some bookstore owners, self-publishing is preferable to going the traditional route.
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Skyhorse Inks UK Distribution Deal
Five-year-old Skyhorse Publishing will begin selling its print books and e-books in the U.K. and Europe starting September 1 through a distribution arrangement with independent publisher Constable & Robinson.
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Atlanta Book Exchange Closes
After 35 years of buying and selling used books, the Atlanta Book Exchange closed its doors on Tuesday, July 5.
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Will Terms Scuttle Najafi Bid?
Whether Borders moves forward as a chain of 200 or so stores or is liquidated could come down to the same issue the current Borders’s management and publishers could never agree upon—terms.
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Amazon Buys U.K. E-tailer The Book Depository
Amazon has expanded its international reach, signing a preliminary agreement to acquire the fast-growing U.K. e-tailer The Book Depository.
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Borders Resolution in Sight
Ever since Borders Group filed for Chapter 11 in February, one of the overriding concerns of the major publishers has been that the bankruptcy process not be dragged out.
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Court Voids Alaska Statute to Protect First Amendment Rights
In a lawsuit brought by Alaska booksellers, librarians and other organizations, Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline held that Senate Bill 222, which could have made anyone who operates a website criminally liable for posting material deemed "harmful to minors," would have chilled free expression.
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GABBS Returns to Boston
That the Great American Bargain Book Show will be in Boston for the third August in a row speaks volumes about the growing importance of bargain books, especially during the fourth quarter, and about New England as a bargain book center.
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Writers Bloc Completes 15th Season of Author Conversations
Fifteen years after launching Writers Bloc, a literary program in Los Angeles that embraces pop culture and politics in a series of conversations between authors and guest interviewers, Andrea Grossman has played host to hundreds of writers as varied as David Foster Wallace, Steve Martin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ruth Rendell, Al Gore, and Mel Brooks.
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Najafi in $435 Million Stalking Horse Deal with Borders
Borders reached an agreement Thursday evening with Najafi Companies to sell an undetermined number of stores for $215.1 million in cash plus $220 million in assumption of liabilities.
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Hopkins Fulfillment Adds Digital Asset Management
HFS, which handles distribution for Johns Hopkins University Press and 12 other university presses and nonprofit institutions, has launched HFS Digital to provide print-on-demand and digital short-run printing options as well as e-book services, including conversion and single-title direct-to-consumer e-book sales.
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California Finally Passes Online Tax Bill
After a dozen years, independent booksellers and brick-and-mortar retailers in California prevailed when Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law yesterday afternoon requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax on California sales beginning July 1.
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Aletheia Cuts Stake in B&N Again
For the second time in less than a month Aletheia Research and Management has sold a significant portion of its holdings in Barnes & Noble. In a filing with the SEC Tuesday, the firm disclosed that it cut its stake in B&N from 8.65% to 5.38%.
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CBA to Market Espresso Book Machine
On Demand Books, the company behind the Espresso Book Machine, and CBA, the Association for Christian Retail, have entered into a marketing agreement under which CBA will market the machine to its members.
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A New Generation of Rep Groups
Although the George Scheer Group disbanded this spring after close to 60 years in business, other independent rep groups have found ways to move ahead.
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