PEOPLE Following the doldrums of December, January brought some major moves, including Michael Jacobs’ sortie from Scholastic, and David Steinberger’s installation as the President and CEO of the Perseus Books Group. Movement is everywhere: Random House has combined its two separate retail sales forces into a single unit, resulting in the departure of at least…Continue Reading
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Tagged AAP, Alan Trask, Alex Holtz, Amadeus Press, Avery Books, Baker & Taylor, Barbara O'Shea, Barron's, Bebe Buell, Berkley, BISG, Bob Levine, Books for a Better Life, Bowker, Brands-to-Books, Candice Chaplin, Carl Andress, Carlos Eire, Carol Roeder, Caroline White, Cause Celeb, Chris Waters, Crown, David Cassidy, David Kirkpatrick, David Steinberger, Dominique Raccah, Ed Lenk, Eric Kettunen, Gerry Helferich, Gotham, HarperCollins, Hudson Street Press, Hyperion, Idea Logical Company, Intervisual, James Fitzgerald, Jay Cosgrove, Jean Sznecz, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Joel Fotinos, John Cerullo, Jonathan Nowell, Judy Blume, Kate Stark, Kathleen Spinelli, Kim Goldstein, King Hill, Larry Bullock, Laureen Rowland, Laurie Bernstein, Lloyd Jassin, M. Evans, Marianne Faithfull, Megan Newman, Meredith Vieira, Michael Burkin, Michael Cairns, Michael Jacobs, Michael Lynton, Michael Musto, Michele Martin, Mike Campbell, Mike Shatzkin, Miriam Bass, Modern Publishing, Nancy Calbirer, National Book Foundation, NBN, Nielsen BookData, Oakley Hall, Other Press, P.J. Dempsey, Pamela Des Barres, Paul Harrington, Paul Kozlowski, Penguin, Perseus Books Group, PGW, Poets & Writers, Polly Horvath, powerHouse, Publishers Group West, Puffin, Random House, Robert Allen, Rodale, Ruth Liebmann, S&S Children's, Scholastic, Sharon Olds, Shirley Hazzard, Sid Albert, Small Press Center, Sony Pictures, Sourcebooks, Susan Allison, Susan Golomb, Susan Wyler, Ted Hill, Teresa Nicholas, The New York Public Library, Tom Lovett, Tracy Tang, Viking Penguin, VikingStudio, Vista, Viz, Wiley
S&S, Scholastic Among Houses Pondering the Product Pipeline While a well-oiled supply chain has been an obsession among other industries over the last two decades, book publishers have only recently begun to put the product pipeline front and center on the radar screen as they try to banish “inventory obsolescence” — products washing up on…Continue Reading
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Tagged Baker & Taylor, Beth Ford, BookScan, Borders, Brinton Strode, Captain Underpants, Cliff Walter, Harry Potter, Hillary Clinton, Ingram, Jack Perry, Jean Srnecz, Joe D'Onofrio, John Adams, Kelley Maier, Lightning Source, Living History, Manugistics, Mike Shatzkin, Oxford University Press USA, Pete Datos, Pocket, Quebecor World, R.R. Donnelley, Read 180, Richard Robinson, S&S, Sam Judd, SAP, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, Unilever
PT’s Savvy Commentators Ponder the Fallout from Another Year in Publishing As we surveyed the smoking turf from another twelve months in the book business, it struck us that this year’s pinnacles and pratfalls were decidedly in the eye of the beholder. We asked a number of savvy publishing personalities to offer their take on…Continue Reading
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Tagged AMS, Andrews McMeel, AOL, Avalon Publishing Group, Bertelsmann, BookScan, Borders, Brown, Charlie Winton, Frank Pearl, Glamour, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin, Idea Logical Company, Jack McKeown, Jack Shoemaker, Joe Spieler, Journals, Karen Jenkins Holt, Kurt Cobain, Little, Michael Cader, Michael Crichton, Michael Wolff, Mike Bryan, Mike Shatzkin, New York Observer, Pantheon, Pat Strachan, Perseus Books Group, PGW, Prey, Publishers Lunch, Random House, Reader's Digest, Reiman Publications, Riverhead, Running Press, Sara Nelson, Scholastic, Shoemaker & Hoard, Simon & Schuster, Stephen King, The Spieler Agency, View From A Buick 8, Vivendi
Two New Surveys Suggest That Book Price-Elasticity Is Getting All Stretched Out Among the persnickety trends of 2002 was continued brow-furrowing from industry observers and surveyors about the perception that book prices are disastrously high (see article). Some have cited the ruinous effect of “increasingly ubiquitous remainders” on the one hand, and stunningly deep discounts…Continue Reading
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Tagged Amazon.com, Authors Guild, Barnes & Noble, BN.com, Book Reporter, Bowker, Carol Fitzgerald, Christopher Dreher, Jeff Bezos, Len Riggio, Michael Cader, Mike Shatzkin, New York Is Book Country, Open eBook Forum, Robert Sahr, Tablet PC
Despite being ritually deemed “the bane of the publishing industry” and “one of the costliest aspects of the business,” the problem of book returns remains an estimated $7 billion thorn in the industry’s side. Last year, BISG figures show, the average adult trade hardcover return rate was 37.5%, up 3% from the year before. Publishing’s…Continue Reading
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Tagged Anant Mahale, Barnes & Noble, BISG, BN.com, Bookmaster, BookScan, Borders, Columbia University Press, i2 Technologies, Idea Logical Company, Manugistics, Mike Shatzkin, Scholastic, TMS
Amid Post-Book-Fair Grumbling, London Gains on the Buchmesse “Deplorable, but not lethal” was the official word on southbound exhibitor numbers at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair — they tumbled 4%, a figure direly reported to the trade as “the biggest decline in the fair’s 54-year history” — and it made for a condign summation of…Continue Reading
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Tagged A. E. Hotchner, Alistair Burtenshaw, Bill Anderson, Bologna Children's Book Fair, BookExpo America, CBA Expo, Christian Booksellers Association, Courtney Muller, Frankfurt Book Fair, Gothenburg, HarperCollins, Internet World, Jung Chang, Lindhardt og Ringhof, Locus, London Book Fair, Maureen Golden, Merete Borre, Michael Cader, Michael Meller, Mike Shatzkin, Nan A. Talese, Nan Talese, New York Is Book Country, Orange Avenue, Ornella Robbiati, Paul Newman, Penton Media, Reed Exhibitions, Rex Howe, Sonzogno, St. Martin's Press, Susan Katz, Tim Bent, Toby Eady, Volker Neumann, Wei Hui, Xinran
As Riggio Guns for Lower Prices, There’s No Sure Cure for Sticker Shock Pantyhose, Len Riggio once said, lecturing publishers on the finer price points for L’eggs, sell blissfully at $6.99. But books are not leggings. And if publishers think $6.99 is a good price for the upscale products in bookstores, they’re hosed. Moreover, he…Continue Reading
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Tagged Amazon, Association of American Publishers, Audio Publishers Association, Barnes & Noble, Black Dog & Leventhal, Borders, Changing Hands Bookstore, Charles Nurnberg, Chuck Robinson, Costco, Diana Preston, Ed Morrow, Eileen Hutton, Gayle Shanks, George Gibson, J. P. Leventhal, Larry Abramoff, Len Riggio, Lusitania, Mike Shatzkin, Motorbooks, Northshire Books, Patricia Cornwell, Phil Pfeffer, Random House, Rich Freese, Sterling, Tatnuck Bookseller, The Future and its Enemies, The Idea Logical Company, Village Books, Virginia Postrel, Walker
Mike Shatzkin of the Idea Logical Company took a retro tack at the Seybold Seminars last month as he rolled out “a brand new opportunity to get more sales and lower the returns of physical books.” We offer a brief excerpt of his remarks. Here’s the fact most publishers and chain booksellers seem to ignore:…Continue Reading
BookExpo America Returns to Gotham, Pondering Its ‘Donut Problem’ You may as well cue up the ticker tape. Because when BookExpo America lands in New York this May after a decade-long hiatus, the annual book industry trade show “will be celebrating its return to the publishing capital of the world,” in the neon-lit words of…Continue Reading
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Tagged Al Gore, Alison Lazarus, Beacon Press, Book Sense, BookExpo America, Books-A-Million, Carl Lennertz, CDS, Dominique Raccah, Frankfurt Book Fair, get Caught Reading, Greg Topalian, Helene Atwan, Holtabrinck, Idea Logical Company, Leadership, Library Hotel, London Book Fair, Market Partners, Michael Cader, Mike Shatzkin, Ornella Robbiati, Penguin Putnam, Publishers Lunch, Random House, Reed Exhibitions, Rock Bottom Remainders, Rudy Giuliani, Sonzogno, Sourcebooks, St. Martin's, Steve Black, Talk Miramax
PEOPLE Two Random House appointments: Beryl Needham, previously Dir. of Marketing for Little, Brown, has been named VP Dir. of National Accts. Children’s Books. And Adene Corns has been named VP Dir. of clubs and AMS. She was previously at S&S. Corns comes to Random with her full team . . . After 21 years…Continue Reading
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Tagged Adene Corns, Aleen Stein, Amazon, Audible, B&N.com, Barbara Marcus, Beryl Needham, Bob Miller, Bob Stein, Book Industry Study Group, Bookspan, Brian deFiore, Brigitte Weeks, Byron Preiss, Byron Preiss iPicture, Canongate, Charlesbridge, Contentville, Deborah Wiley, Douglas Clegg, Emily Heckman, Emma Parry, Grove/Atlantic, Guideposts, Harold Underdown, iBooks, Jack Kerouac, Jack Welch, Jane Leventhal, Jessica Fletcher, Jim Henson Productions, John Conti, Kathy Paton, Kylie Foxx, Lightning, Little Brown, LiveReads, Malka Margolies, Michael Cader, Michael Carlisle, Michele Slung, Microsoft e-book Awards, Mike Shatzkin, Morgan Entriken, National Book Foundation, Neal Bascomb, Neil Baldwin, Norman Vincent Peale, Ocean Books, Orpheus Emerged, OverDrive, Pamela Turner, Perry Janoski, Peter Costanzo, PGW, Publisherslunch.com, Randi Benton, Random House, Random House Audio, Robert S. Boynton, S&S, Sandy Paul, Scholastic, Seth Godin, Shelley Sanderson, St. Martin's, Stephen King, Steve Cohen, Steve Ross, Steve Zeitchik, Susan Kantor, Susan Peterson, Talk Magazine, The Highly Suspicious Halo, The Industry Standard, The Nation, Tom Turvey, Trisha Boczkowski, Undercover Book Service, Voyager Co., Xlibris
