Barnes & Noble Posts Third Quarter Results
In their third quarter earnings, Barnes & Noble fell short of projections, despite significant increases in its e-book / digital content sales and an increase in its bricks-and-mortar store business. The latter's traffic and sales, according to the release, "... were the highest we've seen in five years." Some analysts speculated bookstore business increase was in part due to this year's closing of Borders bookstores. The release made no mention that B&N might spin off the Nook e-reader device business which, though growing, is adversely affecting earnings. It also made no mention of its forthcoming sale of Sterling, the publisher it acquired in 2003.
Read the Barnes & Noble earning release.
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Amanda Knox Deal Speculated at $4 Million
Another page turned in the Amanda Knox story this week as it was widely reported that she struck an estimated $4 million dollar deal with publisher HarperCollins. On February 16, the trade publishing house released a statement claiming "Knox will give a full and unflinching account of the events that led to her arrest in Perugia and her struggles with the complexities of the Italian judicial system." Knox, who "studied creative writing," will be "aided by journals she kept during her imprisonment," as well as by a collaborator.
Knox and her literary agent, Robert Barnett, met with seven publishers in advance of an auction of the manuscript. The book is due out sometime in 2013.
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Self-Published Amazon Author Gets 18,000 Readers
It might not be Amanda Hocking's results, but getting 18,000 readers for your first self-published book is exceptionally good. Read Kirsty McManus's review of her Amazon CreateSpace self-publishing experience and about her self-publishing strategy for success--as well as reviews from others who've self-published on lulu.com, amazon, etc..
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Image courtesy of Kirsty McManus via Amazon
Amanda Knox Awaiting Book Deal
We await the fate of Amanda Knox--her book publishing fate, that is. Knox is likely to win a multi-million dollar book contract for the story of her time in Perugia, Italy as the accused and convicted murderer of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, who was also convicted of the murder, won an appeal to their conviction this past fall. While it's a media platform nobody would wish for, Knox's story is a lightening rod for publicity and book sales will likely follow. Julie Bosman in The New York Times reported that Sollecito will also be shopping a book.
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Jane Austen in Love... But Not with Her Marketing
Read the recent review of Amazon's CreateSpace publishing service by award-winning Jane Austen-related fiction author, Elsa Solender. Solender gives insights into the publishing process--and into the gap between marketing expectations and reality.
Read more about book marketing and book publicity .
Image: Jane Austen in Love: An Entertainment by Elsa Solender
Romance@Random's New Contributor
Romance readers and writers have more to love as the Romance@Random website brings on the contributions of Barnes & Noble Romance category buyer, Jules Herbert. Herbert's role will to make monthly recommendations and highlight store promotions for the passionate audience of readers.
Launched just prior to last July's RWA Conference, Romance@Random is steered by Sue Grimshaw, formerly the Romance buyer for the erstwhile Borders chain. And, though the site owned and run by the RH book marketing folks, its stated aim is to serve the Romance community in general and, towards that aim, it is inclusive of all publishers and authors.
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Image of Fabio: Maureen Donaldson at Getty Images
Author dreams it—and does it
Self-published author Bill Rolfe dreamed about the plot of his novel, The Living Room. Here he shares with About.com readers his nine-year struggle to finally finish writing the novel, and how he published it. Read Bill's story and about the experiences of other self-published authors. Or write about your own self-publishing experiences and the insights you gained from the efforts.
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Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Dickens
Though he himself existed a mere 58 years on this planet, Dickens' characters live on as vibrantly as the day he wrote them. Google commemorated today's bicentenary of the self-published author of A Christmas Carol with a homepage cartoon. And, in the spirit of the ghost of writers past, here's a little Dickensian advice to authors out there:
"Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fulfilled all the rules of art."
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"Dear John"... I mean, "Dear Readers": R.J. Julia Bookstore for Sale
In one of her lovely "Dear Readers" newsletters, Roxanne Coady announced to her customers today R. J. Julia, her Madison, CT bookstore of 22 years, is up for sale. Coady assures customers that the store will not close, that she will be looking carefully for a new "steward" and that there are examples of independent bookstores who are successfully "innovating, investing, reinventing." Coady herself would like to focus on literacy efforts.
Last year's demise of Borders bookstores and the boost in print book sales this past holiday season have given hope of viable business to many independent booksellers. Still, the retirement of a fiscally savvy, book smart and beloved bookseller leaves one less capable person to help figure out the answers to the questions about the future of bookselling.
Read Coady's letter to customers here.
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Image: R. J. Julia
Downton Abbey—Books as Backstory
Journalist/author Judith Newman turned her estimable wit and wisdom to the review of books that tie in with the hit PBS television series, Downton Abbey. The three mentioned books are about the historic realities on which Downton Abbey is based. Read more about how film and television tie-in books create marketing synergies for books.
And read Newman's Downton Abbey article in The New York Times Book Review.
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