Aletheia Research and Management, Barnes & Noble's third-largest shareholder--after chairman Len Riggio and Ron Burkle's Yucaipa--reported a reduced stake in the company just weeks after Liberty Media Corp. made its offer to buy B&N for $1.02 billion (Shelf Awareness, May 20, 2011). In an SEC filing yesterday, Aletheia said that as of June 1, it had an 8.65% stake (5.2 million shares), down from the 10.59% it held on April 20, Reuters wrote.
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"The 10 Most Powerful Women Authors" were showcased by Forbes, which said that these particular writers were selected "because of their ability to influence us through their words and ideas. Collectively, these women hold readers captivated with stories of fantastical worlds, suspense and drama, insights into the complexities of minority experiences and cultures, and fresh takes on societal issues and expectations.... not to mention, book sales of up to 800 million copies sold and a wealth of prestigious awards and recognition including Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes. In other words, these 10 women can tell (and sell) a good story."
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After South Carolina's five-year online sales tax exemption for Amazon took effect yesterday without Governor Nikki Haley's signature, the company announced that its Lexington County fulfillment center had restarted hiring for hundreds of full-time jobs.
"We're pleased to be moving ahead with plans to open a facility in South Carolina this fall, ultimately creating 2,000 full-time jobs in the state," said Dave Clark, v-p, North American Operations for Amazon. "We appreciate South Carolina's decision to welcome Amazon jobs and investment, and we look forward to a long, productive partnership with the state."
The State reported that Governor Haley "doesn't like the break Amazon received--a deal made by her predecessor shortly before leaving office in January--but chose to let it happen despite pleas from the Tea Party wing of the GOP and other retailers to reject it."
"What's done is done," Haley said.
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In a not unrelated note, during this week's shareholder meeting Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos responded in detail to a query ("So, my question is where are the losers?") about the company's willingness to take risks when it comes to innovation.
"We know how to open new geographies," he said. "That doesn't mean that these things are guaranteed to work, but we have a lot of expertise and a lot of knowledge. We know how to open new fulfillment centers, whether to open one, where to locate it, how big to make it. All of these things based on our operating history are things that we can analyze quantitatively rather than to have to make intuitive judgments."
Bezos summed up Amazon's philosophy by stating that "we are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time."
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Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney predicted that a $99 Kindle may be a reality by the Christmas season this year: "We would expect a sub-$100 price level by late 2011. Our belief is that the current price levels are attractive enough to broadly expand the potential Kindle buyer base." PaidContent.org called this the "price point that many believe is key to widespread e-reader adoption by the holidays."
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Congratulations to Bookshop West Portal in San Francisco, Calif., which celebrates its fifth anniversary this weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday all books, cards and gifts are 20% off.
An open letter from the store, founded by Neal Sofman, a co-owner of the old A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books stores, said in part, "Like many merchants on West Portal, we felt the effects of the economic downturn during the first quarter of 2011, but April and May have been better and we are optimistic that, with your continued support, we will remain a vital part of West Portal's unique business district. If you want the intimacy of a neighborhood bookshop where you can talk books face-to-face, and relax in a way that only seems to happen when surrounded by books, then keep us on your regular route.
"Where else can you meet celebrated authors like Alexander McCall Smith, Ann Patchett, Calvin Trillin, Cara Black, Lisa See, Alan Furst, Mary Roach, or Simon Winchester within walking distance of your home?"
The store continues, it said, to "make our shop more interesting by adding new services and gifts that we hope will catch your fancy. Over the next few months you will find a larger selection of new puzzles, games, toys, sun hats, sunglasses, bags, and other fun things. Our knitting program will continue, and we hope our classes in cartooning and drawing will interest you."
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Arches Book Company, Moab, Utah, has finished its merger with its sister bookstore, Back of Beyond Books, which is now home for both booksellers. Arches wrote: "We opened Arches Book Company in October of 2001 and had a great run. The economic downturn, fewer people reading, increased competition (especially online), and the advent of e-readers all played a part in this merge."
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Today, Friday and Saturday are when 25 Unbridled Books e-books will be for sale on IndieCommerce sites that sell Google eBooks for 25 cents apiece. Unbridled hopes, it says, that people with e-readers will "take this chance to acquaint yourselves with some of our long-time authors" and that readers new to e-books "will take this opportunity to dip a toe into the waters with the help of your knowledgeable local bookstore, and introduce yourself to a stable of authors of whom we are extremely proud."
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Cool idea of the day: British bookseller Patrick Neale "will be revealing the secrets of his job" during a Guardian live webchat tomorrow. Neale worked for Waterstone's for 15 years before opening Jaffé and Neale Bookshop & Cafe in Chipping Norton a decade ago. The store was named Independent Bookseller of the year in 2007.
"Independent bookselling is all about being the center of your community hosting events, book clubs and launch parties," said Neale. "Independent bookshops are essential as they discover new talent and are able to advise customers. This bespoke service rests on meeting and talking to our customers and not relying on algorithms to dictate what a customer likes. We also foster great relationships with authors.
"The book trade has never been more competitive and price as well as the electronic book are obviously issues, but it is not all gloom and doom for Independent booksellers. In the right location and the passion to make yourself interesting and relevant then the future is as positive as it ever has been."
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Jaunted.com featured "three havens for bookish travelers," noting that London "is teeming with bookshops that celebrate all things erudite, stores that avid readers could easily get lost in for hours on end. If you count yourself among this group, then take note of the following three locales: nerd-tested (and we mean that in a good way), Jaunted-approved."
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"We think we're so modern. We think we're hot stuff, with our touch-screen tablets, video cellphones and Internet movie downloads. But mark my words: we're in the Paleozoic era of consumer technology.... This week, though, e-book readers just took their first slimy steps out of the primordial soup," wrote David Pogue in his New York Times tech review of the recently released Barnes & Noble All-New Nook and Kobo Touch Edition e-readers.
Pogue concluded: "All of this is clear evidence that the clunky primitiveness of the Paleozoic e-book era is finally drawing to a close. At this rate, before you know it, e-book readers will arrive solidly in the Jurassic period. "
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The Guardian featured its recommendations for 10 of the best literary haunts in Barcelona: "Discover where Picasso supped and where to find inspiration over coffee or cocktails, with Barcelona writer Matthew Tree."
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What music would the narrator of Donna Tartt's bestselling novel The Secret History "fall in love, scheme, and find out the worst to"? In creating a literary mixtape for Richard Papen, Flavorwire thought he "would be into a little bit of sad-sack music, with a healthy spattering of the 'cool' bands, and some ominous, moody music for the late, fraught nights."
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"Insane Science: 5 New Books That Explain the Brain" is a summer reading alternative offered by NPR's Michael Schaub, who observed: "When the sun finally comes out and the sweaters get tossed in the basement, we're all at least a little tempted to turn off our brains. Don't do it! Summer reading--in this case, summer reading about the science of the mind--can be a lot more fun than dodging volleyballs on a beach."
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Arrr! Justin Somper, author of the the Vampirates series, chose his top 10 pirate books for the Guardian. "There's a real blurring between fact and fiction in pirate literature," he wrote. "Some of the figures we (I) take to be archetypal pirates are in fact fiction, created by craftsmen like Daniel Defoe. But that's all part of the fun and it can be informative to contrast fictional archetypes like Blackbeard with their real-life counterparts--in this case Edward Teach."
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Book trailer of the day: Centuries of June by Keith Donohue (Crown), who shows how to deal with a book with a potentially offensive jacket--his own has a partially naked woman on it--so readers won't offend friends and neighbors.
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Ingram Publisher Services is now distributing the following publishers:
Beautiful/Decay, founded in 1996 as publisher of a small black-and-white 'zine and now a publisher of limited edition, hand-numbered art books. IPS will distribute the company's art book series worldwide.
Dreamscape Media, which publishes digital and CD audio material. IPS will market and distribute Dreamscape's audio CDs to libraries and retailers.
Where to Bike, a subsidiary of Bicycling Australia, which publishes cycling books and international cycling guides, including riding guides for cities in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. IPS aims to introduce the Where to Bike series to more riders around the world.