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Bringing E-books to Stores
Booksellers attending the Canadian Booksellers Association's National Conference in Toronto, May 13–15, were introduced to innovations from two Canadian companies designed to help bricks-and-mortar stores sell e-books. Transcontinental Printing demonstrated its e-book distribution system, which would enable retailers to sell e-books from their own Web sites. Enthrill Entertainment previewed a system of cards that retailers could use to display and sell e-books in their stores.
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Borders Seeks Extension for Reorg Plan
Yesterday Borders asked Judge Martin Glenn and U.S. Bankruptcy Court for more time for its exclusive period to come up with a chapter 11 reorganization plan, without which it will be in default of its DIP Credit Agreement. The request for an additional 120 days would move the deadline from June 16 to October 14.
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Points of Sale: Tips for Children's Booksellers
Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Books in Richmond, Va., credits her relationships with bloggers like Rebecca Joines Schinsky (The Book Lady), who writes mostly about adult titles, and Susan Robertson (Wastepaper Prose), who specializes in YA, with giving her store a greater presence both nationally and internationally.
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Liberty Media Bids for Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble announced late Thursday afternoon that it received a bid to acquire the company from Liberty Media for $17 per share in cash.
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Borders to End Deal with Seattle's Best Coffee
Borders has filed a motion to keep the details of its separation agreement from Seattle's Best Coffee under seal. According to the motion, public disclosure about the details of the deal could hurt both SBC and Borders. Borders confirmed that it will not use SBC in its going forward stores.
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Creditors Committee Meeting Could Become Showdown
This morning's Creditors Committee conference call with Borders should end speculation as to the bidder for 225 bricks-and-mortar stores in the troubled chain.
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Books Down at Hastings; Will Sell E-books by Fall
As Hastings Entertainment reported a 9.1% decline in book comparable store sales for the first quarter ended April 30, the multimedia retailer announced that it will begin selling e-books from its gohastings.com Web site sometime in the third quarter of the current fiscal year (August-October). For the entire company in the quarter, sales fell 3.8%, to $124.1 million, and net income declined to $413,000 from $1.0 million. Higher gas prices that reduced disposable income plus a weak lineup of new movies and books were cited by Hastings as key factors in the declines.
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Lerner Publishing Group Launches Distribution Division
Lerner Publishing Group announced this morning that it is formalizing the distribution services it has been providing to small children’s book publishers since 2003 by launching Lerner Publisher Services.
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Bookstores and Bloggers
Bloggers bring an energy about books and authors that's unfettered by the day-to-day concerns of running a bookstore. Even the names—Devourer of Books, Bookalicious, the Book Lady—imply a voracious appetite for books. For an employee discount and an opportunity to interview authors who come to the store, many bloggers are willing to create grassroots promotions by writing about bookstores on their blogs and organizing store events.
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More Borders Rumors Swirl
Rumors of Borders selling a piece of its business are swirling this weekend just days after CEO Mike Edwards said in a letter to vendors that it had decided against selling the company, or parts of it, and was preparing to find a way to exit from Chapter 11 as a intact company.
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ABA Partners with On Demand Books
As it continues to look toward ways to position independent booksellers to take advantage of new bookselling models, the American Booksellers Association announced that it has entered into a marketing partnership with On Demand Books, the maker of the Espresso Book Machine. Under the agreement the ABA will market the book machine to member stores. In turn, On Demand will offer a 10% discount off the up-front software license fee of $25,000 to ABA members that purchase or lease an EBM before April 5, 2012.
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Bookstore Sales Fell in March
Bookstore sales continued their rollcoaster ride in early 2011. After rising in February following a January decline, bookstore sales fell again in March. According to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, March bookstore sales fell 5.8%, to $906 million. For the first quarter of 2011, bookstore sales were down 1.8%, to $4.03 billion.
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Edwards Renews Call for Reasonable Trade Terms
In a letter sent shortly after the quick end of Wednesday’s omnibus hearing, Borders CEO Mike Edwards once again called on publishers to renew shipping titles to the crippled retailer on normal terms. While a number of independent presses have begun supplying Borders on a 30-day payment schedule, the larger houses have not altered from shipping on a cash basis only.
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Borders Hearing Ends Abruptly
Today's Borders's hearing was a rather routine affair until lawyers for both sides approached the bench after Judge Martin Glenn asked for an update on where things stood.
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Transcontinental Printing Named E-book Distributor for CBA
Transcontinental Printing has been named the official e-book distributor for the Canadian Booksellers Association. The deal, the CBA said, will allow its member stores to "create new revenue streams and bring more titles to market faster."
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BAM Opening in Two St. Louis Borders
BAM is opening two stores in former Borders outlets in St. Louis, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. The stores, to be opened in the Chesterfield Mall and Mid Rivers Mall, are not Books-A-Million outlets but rather part of the entertainment retailer Vintage Stock.
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Possible Borders Sale Gains Traction
The chances that Borders may be sold as one business or piecemeal appears to becoming more of a possibility. Last Friday was the deadline for the submission of bids to the company's investment bankers and financial advisors, Jeffries & Company.
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Amazon As Publisher, Publishers As E-tailers
Lines between different parts of the publishing business are blurring like never before and that could not be more clearly seen than in last week’s separate announcements from Amazon and from Bookish.
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