Kindle Drives Amazon
Saying that Kindle is now its bestselling item, Amazon reported that total sales for the company rose 28%, to $5.45 billion, in the third quarter ended September 30, while operating income jumped 62%, to $251 million. Kindle sales are included in Amazon’s North America electronics and other general merchandise segment, and revenue there rose 36%, to $1.29 billion. Sales in the North America media segment, home to books, e-books and other media products, rose 13.4%, to $1.41 billion, a marked improvement over results in the prior two quarters. Worldwide media sales increased 17.4%, to $2.93 billion.
Amazon said it is optimistic about the fourth quarter and sees no signs of a sales slowdown; revenue is projected to increase between 21% and 36% over last year’s final period.
Kindle PC App Due
Beginning in November, Amazon will begin offering free downloads of Kindle for PC, an e-reading application that will allow consumers to download Kindle edition e-books to any PC running Windows 7, Windows XP or Windows Vista and read them on the PC. While the new application will allow Kindle owners to read their previously purchased Kindle titles on their PCs, it will also allow anyone with a PC to buy and download Kindle e-books directly to their PCs.
Arcade Assets For Sale
The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Arcade Publishing has approved the appointment of GSL Publishing Associates to oversee the possible sale of the company. Arcade filed for Chapter 11 in June, five months after the death of cofounder Dick Seaver, and has not published any new titles this year. Arcade’s assets include about 250 active titles and an inventory of 550,000 units. The company also has electronic rights to about 200 titles. In addition to its list of distinguished foreign authors, Arcade has a core backlist of more commercial titles.
Some Gains at Penguin
Exchange rate fluctuations continue to play tricks with reported results from Penguin. Parent company Pearson reported that, for the first nine months of 2009, Penguin sales were up 12%, but fell 4% at constant exchange rates. Pearson said the expected tough retail market conditions were largely offset by a good publishing performance, strong growth in e-book sales (up almost fourfold) and good growth in international markets such as South Africa.
Weinstein Books Partners With Perseus
Struggling Weinstein Books will move forward in a joint venture with the Perseus Books Group. Under the pact, Perseus will take over most publishing activities for Weinstein, including distribution, which will move from Hachette to Perseus December 1. The Weinstein Books team, including publisher Judy Hottensen, will remain in its current office and “will participate in the development of the longer-term plan for the JV,” Perseus said. First new books to come from the venture, which will still be called Weinstein Books, will be titles that had been in the Weinstein Books pipeline.
Correction
In the October 12 Changemaker profile of Don Barliant, Barbara Siegel’s name was misspelled. Siegel opened Barbara’s Bookstore in 1963 and sold the store to Barliant in 1970.
