September Store Sales Up
Bookstore sales rose for the third consecutive month in September, increasing 2.7%, to $1.56 billion, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The gains over the last three months have nearly offset the slow start to the first half of 2007, with bookstore sales down only 0.3%, to $12.36 billion through September. For the entire retail segment, sales were up 2.8% in September; 3.8% in the year to date.
Regan Files Lawsuit
Judith Regan, who headed her own imprint at HarperCollins until she was fired last year, filed a $100- million lawsuit last week against the publisher, parent company News Corp. and HC CEO Jane Friedman. In the suit, Regan charges News with defamation, sex discrimination and unlawful termination.
Egmont Plans U.S. Unit
Egmont, one of Europe’s largest publishers, will open a U.S. children’s publishing subsidiary in New York, with its first list scheduled for fall 2009. Douglas Pocock, group sales director of Egmont UK, has been named executive v-p of Egmont USA. The company will publish in the areas of YA and middle grade fiction, and picture books. The U.S. office is expected to have eight employees within one year and could expand to 13 within a few more years. Egmont’s goal is to become a major player on the children’s market in five years.
Oprah Picks 'Pillars of the Earth’
Oprah Winfrey has selected Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth as her latest book club pick. The 973-page opus, set in the 12th century, was originally published in hardcover in 1989. NAL shipped 612,000 copies of the book club edition.
Langenscheidt To Distribute Ullmann
Langenscheidt has reached an agreement with H.F. Ullmann to make the German publisher’s list available in the U.S. for the first time. Beginning January 2, Langenscheidt will distribute the Ullmann list, which includes 140 titles on such subjects as art and architecture, photography, nature, lifestyle, reference and the culinary arts.
New Head for S&S Australia
Jon Attenborough, who has been managing director of Simon & Schuster Australia since it was formed in 1987, has resigned from the post and will be succeeded by François McHardy, who joined SSA as deputy managing director earlier this year.
NYC Book Fairs Compete
Kirkus Reviews, which has bought the rights to the dormant New York Is Book Country, plans to hold its first show September 14, the same date set for the Brooklyn Book Festival. Despite protests from BBF, Kirkus said it is too late to change the day for NYIBC.
Campbell Adds Russian Client
Scouting agency Maria Campbell Associates has added Russian publisher Inostranka and CoLibri as a client. The house does fiction and nonfiction in translation.
