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Savannah's Story
When Laura Albert told the New York Post, as she did earlier this month, that someone is “really stepping on my feelings,” she was talking about Savannah Knoop, the young woman who, at the age of 19, was enlisted by Albert and her husband, Geoff Knoop, to participate in the now infamous literary hoax.
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B&N.com Starts to Pick Up the Pace
In the three years after Barnes & Noble took over sole ownership of Barnes & Noble.com in 2003, the site's sales performance was up and down. But in 2007, the online arm of the retailer posted a 10.1% sales increase, helped by a strong fourth quarter, and the solid results continued into the first period of 2008: B&N.
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Murray to Stay the Course
While Jane Friedman’s resignation from HarperCollins was a surprise, the appointment of Brian Murray to succeed her was not. Murray has been the heir apparent since his return from heading HC’s Australian operation; last year he was promoted to president of HC’s worldwide business. Murray, who has been heavily involved in HC’s international expansion and digital push, sa...
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Animal House
It's become an all too familiar story: author shops book idea, is told that it's “unmarketable” and publishes it successfully herself. In the case of Diane Leigh and Marilee Geyer's book on homeless animals, One at a Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter, however, there was a twist. The authors didn't take their manuscript and photos to Lulu's or the local copy shop.
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Random's Search For Growth
If Peter Olson is indeed leaving Random House, his successor will still be faced with the task of finding ways to grow the world's largest trade book publisher in an industry confronted by sluggish growth. Since 2002, one way Random has looked to grow is through international expansion, a move that also lessened its dependence on the American market, where the company has been the dominant publ...
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New Looks for Collins Publishing
As part of its effort to promote the new Collins Publishing Group, the HarperCollins division is rolling out a new look and logo. Steve Ross, who took over as president and publisher of Collins nine months ago, said the creation of four logos “shows we are comprised of four individual but united imprints.
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Amazon: Friend or Foe?
Along with discussions of hot books and high prices at this month’s London Book Fair, another major topic of conversation in the aisles was Amazon. The immediate flashpoint was the e-tailer’s new policy of making publishers who use print-on-demand go through its BookSurge subsidiary if they don’t want to risk having Amazon deactivate the buy button on their titles.
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Books Slip at Books-A-Million
Sales in Books-A-Million's core book operation were “down slightly” in the year ended February 2, 2008, the company said in its annual report. Total revenue at BAM rose 2.9% in the year, to $535.1 million. Commercial fiction was one of BAM's strongest performing categories, while the retailer saw “positive sales trends in teen, graphic novels and our Faithpoint inspirational b...
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Book Sales Flat At Hastings
Book sales at Hastings Entertainment held even at approximately $120 million, the retailer reported in its 10-k filing made to the Securities & Exchange Commission for the year ended January 31, 2008. Books accounted for 22% of Hastings's total revenue, tying it with video as the largest product category last year.
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Anarchy Reigns at AK Press
In the past few years, publishers have been looking to nontraditional book outlets and direct sales for growth. But One Bay Area house, AK Press in Oakland, has been mining both from the start. The 18-year-old publisher/distributor was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1990 and opened a U.S. branch in 1994; it earns roughly one-third of its revenue from selling direct to consumers through mail...
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Amazon Highlights: Kindle in Stock; Does Collect Tax
The highlights of Amazon's first quarter conference call included word that the Kindle is now in stock, and that the e-tailer already collects sales or value added taxes on about 50% of its business. North America media sales rose 21.7%.
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In the Studio with Matthew Van Fleet
Bookshelf visited with author/illustrator Matthew Van Fleet at his home in Chappaqua, N.Y., to see his studio and to hear about his new book, Alphabet.
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Random Reviews its Green Progress
Random House's use of more recycled paper saved 309,058 trees last year and initiatives to cut energy consumption at its New York headquarters resulted in a 264,000 kilowatt hour reduction.
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Borders Reorganizes Merchandising Team
Borders has shuffled its internal merchandising team. The retailer, which previously had a pool of buyers, will now be restructured into a merchandising department with buyers, planners and directors. The changes will go into effect on May 19.
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As Amazon Soars, Bookstores Creep
Two surveys released over the past several weeks put the share of the consumer book market controlled by online retailers at between 21% (R.R. Bowker) and 30% (Fairfield Research), growth that has been fueled, in large part, by the expansion of Amazon. In discussing their 2007 results, both Penguin's David Shanks and Simon & Schuster's Carolyn Reidy said the e-tailer was their fastest-growi...
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Intrepid Toby: Fiction & International
Between Penguin [Pearson, U.K.], Hachette [France] and the two big German companies [Bertelsmann and Holtzbrinck], publishing is international,” said Matthew Miller, founder of nine-year-old Toby Press in New Milford, Conn., one of the few small presses that is truly international in scope. Not only has Toby's list been weighted heavily toward European and Middle Eastern writers, but last...
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B&N’s Quamut Lures Publishers, Takes on About.com
Barnes & Noble Inc. took a significant step into the digital publishing sphere last month when it officially launched Quamut.com, a how-to Web site. The site offers free guides on more than 1,000 topics. Quamut publisher and managing director Dan Weiss acknowledged the competition—About.com is the leading how-to site on the Web, ranking 40th on Web traffic analyzer Alexa.
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Zack Zook
Zack Zook took over as general manager of BookCourt three years ago, and while it was always expected he would one day run the family business, it was a bit of a surprise that Zook assumed the reins at the age of 20. During his tenure, Zook has expanded the events schedule; founded a literary journal, The Cousin Corinne, which will launch this summer; and assisted in the planning for an expansi...
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PMA Calls for Amazon to Reconsider POD Stance
PMA has issued a statement asking Amazon to reconsider its policy making publishers use its BookSurge division to print pod titles if the company wants to sell directly through the site. PMA said the action threatens the livelihood of thousands of small publishers.
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Seven Stories Plans First-Ever Simultaneous U.S./U.K. Release
Rogue Economics by Loretta Napoleoni officially pubbed in the U.S. April 1, and pubs in the U.K. on April 24.
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