Barnes & Noble's Extreme Makeover
In an effort to distinguish itself from its main competition, Barnes
& Noble has developed a new strategic plan that has been the focus
of intense deliberations at the company since Borders Group announced
its own new strategic plan 10 days ago. The goal of B&N's plan
is to free it from reliance on its U.S. superstores by taking advantage of "unanticipated
market opportunities," as a company statement put it.
For one, B&N, which once owned a minority stake in the old
Chapters chain in Canada and scouted locations in the U.K., has decided
to take the international plunge. Again it is looking at the British
market, where some established locations that generally fit the B&N
model are available at favorable rates. The company is also considering
purchasing similar locations in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
While B&N noted that the weak U.S. dollar will present certain
hurdles to starting in business abroad, it did emphasize that in the
future, remittances to New York will be in strong currencies like the
pound sterling. Any confusion caused by Australia and New Zealand's use
of the word dollar for their currencies will be cleared up early on,
B&N assured investors.
There will be major changes in B&N's domestic operations, too.
Although the company has closed many of its B. Dalton Bookseller mall
stores during the past decade, the company said that it now sees
renewed opportunities in this area and will both expand its Dalton
operations by opening new branches as well as through "the acquisition
of existing mall bookstores that can be easily adapted to the
Dalton format."
In another significant strategic move, B&N plans to have "an
established third party" handle its online bookselling operations. The
company stated that it believes its expertise lies in selling books in
a bricks-and-mortar environment. It also has grown tired of collecting
sales tax on online purchases.
In yet another major change, B&N has decided to abandon its
proprietary publishing program. Effective immediately, the company is
suspending the publication of new titles and will order no reprints on
existing titles--and let them go out of print. "We are a retailer first
and foremost," B&N stated. "It follows that we want to work in
close partnership with our suppliers and not compete with them."
B&N
is also putting its Sterling Publishing subsidiary on the block. The
company said it has already received strong interest from another
leading bookselling company.
In related news, B&N said that considering that the
company's sales at stores open at least a year dropped 0.3% during the
past fiscal year, chairman Leonard Riggio and CEO Stephen Riggio have
insisted on taking a salary of just $1 a year each and forgoing stock-award
bonuses until comp-store sales grow at a rate of at least 2%. At the request of the
Riggios, their new salaries
will be paid in cash.
Barnes & Noble's Extreme Makeover
No News from Random House
Once again there were no layoffs to report at Random House this week--and there never have been.
No News from Random House
Enough About the Publishers, What About the PGW Party?
The auction of rights to hold PGW's traditional Saturday night,
end-of-BEA blowout party has attracted considerable interest and will
be decided in bankruptcy court in Delaware this coming Friday. The
insecure partygoers committee, appointed by the judge, is sifting
through bids. This marks the last, sad chapter for the once-thriving
distributor whose parent company, AMS, filed for bankruptcy at the end
of last year.
David Steinberger, CEO of Perseus, which took on the lion's share of
PGW publishers, confirmed to Shelf Awareness that he has bid for the
party. If successful, Steinberger plans to merge the PGW party with
several other BEA events held by Perseus-owned companies, including the
old Consortium-independent publishers shindig and several receptions
and dinners hosted by Da Capo, PublicAffairs, Running Press and Basic Books, among
others. He stressed that although on first glance, the various events
would seem not to mesh well, they all have synergies of partydom and
that going forward, Perseus is committed to providing good times for
all. If Perseus wins the party bid, the event will be known as the
Transition Vendor Party.
Jed Lyons, CEO of NBN, which has taken on some PGW publishers, is also
in the running for rights to the party. In a public letter to BEA
attendees, Lyons promised that he would 1) do away with the cash bar,
2) allow three people in per invitation and 3) have a "high-quality"
warmup band that would start playing not long after doors open. In
addition, in an effort to win support from the industry's many baby
boomers, he will require bands play a minimum number of recognizable,
pre-1975 songs, particularly before midnight.
Lyons charged that Perseus's party bid was unfavorable to "the many
people dying for a drink" by the second night of the trade show,
especially "a free drink," adding, "We will pay 100% on the beer
barrelhead."
For his part, Steinberger noted that NBN had stated only that the cash
bar would end and did not explicitly say that there would be a free
bar. "NBN may make it a BYOB party," he said. "FYI, BYOB is not a PGW
tradition."
In related news, the bankruptcy court quietly sold the initials PGW to
company founder Charlie Winton, who plans to use them in reference to
himself: Party Guy Winton.
Enough About the Publishers, What About the PGW Party?
New-Look Borders: Tall, Not Venti
More details have come out about Borders's new strategic plan.
According to sources at the company, senior management has
been impressed by the attention and excitement of publishers about
special sales accounts as well as by the ability of some non-bookstore
retailers to rack up extraordinary sales of a very limited number of
titles. The attractive economics of what one Borders executive called
"selling tons of only a few bestsellers a year" has led the company to
draw up plans for yet another new prototype store: called Caffè Borders,
the stores will be 1,000-2,000 square feet in size, offer a full range
of coffees and other drinks as well as some food and have comfortable
chairs and wi-fi (where customers would be encouraged to lounge for
hours). The book and music inventory would consist of one or two titles
at any given time, "seemingly as an afterthought," Shelf Awareness's source said. Staff--perhaps to be called baristas--would have extensive training in coffees and Italian and
seek to create a kind of atmosphere that the Borders exec called
"fourth place minus one." The company foresees opening thousands of the
stores and placing them close to one another, particularly in urban areas. Borders
superstores will be phased out as leases end.
New-Look Borders: Tall, Not Venti
Regan Launches New Venture
Judith Regan, whose publishing company was shut down last December by
imprint HarperCollins, has founded a new publishing venture. Like
ReganBooks, Chutzpah Press will specialize in what Regan, in a long,
rambling statement, called "books that go to the edge, call into
question, get in the face, never surrender and are distinguished by utter
originality."
Chutzpah's first title, scheduled to be released in the second half of July, is called Harry Potter and the Secret of the Purpose-Driven Da Vinci Code Life.
Chutzpah's literary imprint, Schizophrenic House, has already signed up several volumes of poetry and thoughtful first fiction.
In her announcement, Reagan also complained of being unfairly forced to stay after school one day in fourth grade.
Regan Launches New Venture
Harry to Return Again and Again
On her personal Web site, author J.K. Rowling has offered several
initial clues about the first sequel to the Harry Potter series.
Following his death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry apparently will be resurrected, much like the fortunes of Bloomsbury, Scholastic and many booksellers around the world.
Rowling
said that she has already written the final final chapter for the
series, which will be told in 138 books, each longer than the one
preceding it.
Harry to Return Again and Again
First Sony Reader Sale!
Last week, a Sony Reader was sold; the milestone took
place at a Borders store. The buyer, who for personal reasons wished to
remain anonymous, called the device "nice and retro." Among the selling
points: he said he had heard that the Reader was WordStar-compatible
and that it contained a version of Pong. Asked what e-titles he had
bought so far, he was momentarily confused, then responded, "I'm still
waiting for a decent e-book reader."
ISBN Changes at Hand
ISBN-13 to the 10th Power is coming! Prepare for the ultimate: a book
identifier with so many digits that every book ever printed will have
its own unique ISBN. The Book Industry Study Group invites booksellers,
librarians, publishers, wholesalers and anyone having trouble sleeping
at night to read more about the transition to ISBN-13 to the 10th Power
at www.goodgodnotmorenumbers.org.
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The Queen of Fives |
by Alex Hay |
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Quinn le Blanc, "the Queen of Fives," is the latest in a dynasty of London con artists. In August 1898, she resolves to pose as a debutante and marry a duke for his fortune. According to the dynasty's century-old Rulebook, reeling in a mark takes just five days. But Quinn hasn't reckoned with the duke's equally shrewd stepmother and sister. Like his Caledonia Novel Award-winning debut, The Housekeepers, Alex Hay's second book is a stylish, cheeky historical romp featuring strong female characters. Graydon House senior editor Melanie Fried says his work bears the "twisty intrigue of a mystery" but is "elevated [by] wickedly clever high-concept premises and explorations of class, social status, gender, and power." The Queen of Fives is a treat for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Sarah Penner, and Downton Abbey. --Rebecca Foster
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(Graydon House/HarperCollins, $28.99 hardcover, 9781525809859, January 21, 2025)
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