3/22/10--AAP Reports Publishing Sales for Month of January

New York, NY, March 22, 2010—The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports for the month of January 2010, book sales decreased by 0.7 percent at $814.9 million and were down by 0.7 percent for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category dipped 8.1 percent in January 2010 with sales of $55.6 million a decrease of 8.1 percent compared to January 2009. Adult Paperback sales increased by 0.8 percent for the month ($103.2 million) and were up by 0.8 percent compared to January last year. The Adult Mass Market category declined by 0.5 percent for January with sales totaling $56.0 million; sales were down by 0.5 percent year for the month. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category decreased by 41.6 percent for the month with sales of $31.7 million, a decrease for the month by 41.6 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category decreased by 18.1 percent in January with sales totaling $30.7 million; sales were down by 18.1 percent compared to January 2009.

Audio Book sales posted an increase of 5.0 percent in January with sales totaling $10.6 million; sales for the month increased by 5.0 percent. E-books sales soared to $31.9 million, reflecting a 261.2 percent jump for January and a 261.2 percent increase compared to January 2009. Religious Books saw a decrease of 14.6 percent for the month with sales totaling $42.2 million; sales were down by 14.6 compared to January 2009.

Sales of University Press Hardcover books reflected an 8.6 percent decrease with sales of $5.1 million; sales decreased by 8.6 percent for the month of January. University Press Paperback sales posted a decrease of 9.4 percent for the month with sales totaling $7.7 million; sales were down 9.4 percent. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category were down by 20.4 percent in January ($51.5 million), a 20.4 percent drop compared to January 2009.

Higher Education publishing sales reached $384.3 million, a 7.9 percent increase. Finally, the K-12 El-Hi (elementary/high school) category posted a total net sales increase of 35.7 percent in January at $94.6 million; thereby, sales were up by 35.7 compared to January of last year.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.

NOTE: All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales

Barnes & Noble CEO Riggio Replaced by Lynch (3/18/10)

Authorlink News--Steve Riggio has stepped down as CEO of Barnes & Noble to become the company’s Vice Chairman, according to a report today by TechCrunch.com. William Lynch, an expert in e-commerce and former president of the company's website, BN.com, will succeed him.

The company also announced the promotion of COO Mitchell Klipper to chief executive of the company’s retail group, which includes the Barnes & Noble retail business and the Barnes & Noble College Booksellers business.

William Lynch joined Barnes & Noble in February 2009 as President of Barnes & Noble.com and has been responsible for the company’s core online business since then. Lynch launched the company’s digital commerce platform as well as the nook, Barnes & Nobles’ eBook Reader.

Formerly, Lynch was Executive Vice President of Marketing and General Manager of HSN.com. From 2004 to 2008, he was CEO of IAC subsidiary Gifts.com, which he co-founded.

From 2000 to 2004, he was VP and General Manager, E-Commerce, for Palm., where he oversaw all of the company’s Web properties, including Palm.com, the Palm Online Store, the Palm Software Connection and the Palm.Net wireless ISP.

Book Industry Study Group Teams Up on Research

Book Industry Study Group Teams Up With Gilbane Group on Research Efforts

Organizations Will Provide Insights on How to Drive Business with Technology

New York, NY and Cambridge, MA/Authorlink News/March 16, 2010--The Gilbane Group, a division of Outsell, Inc., and the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) today announced a strategic partnership to help members of the book industry succeed through innovative uses of technology. Together, Gilbane and BISG will provide market-centric research and actionable guidance for book industry professionals seeking to profit from the digital revolution.

“XML, search technology and e-readers are among the numerous innovations that have challenged the book industry while increasing business opportunities for the most agile,” said Bill Trippe, Vice President Content Strategies and Lead Analyst, Gilbane. “Industry executives need clear guidance on how to distinguish between hype and substance, and how to apply the right technological strategies to stay competitive.”

“BISG and Gilbane share a vital interest in the future of the book industry. By providing an objective, research-based perspective, we will be able to add enormous value for BISG’s members and the industry at large,” said Scott Lubeck, Executive Director, BISG.

The new partnership includes:

• Full-length research reports, starting with joint planning and development of Gilbane’s current study, “A Blueprint for Book Publishing Transformation.”
• An annual series of white papers on topics of interest to the book publishing industry.
• Events to share research results. For example, Gilbane will participate in a session of BISG’s Making Information Pay 2010 conference (http://www.bisg.org/mip/) on May 6, 2010, presenting key findings from the Blueprint study.

For additional information on the new partnership, please contact Scott Lubeck at scott@bisg.org

Barnes & Noble Names Digital Newsstand Manager

Barnes & Noble Names Jonathan Shar,
General Manager of Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content


NEW YORK, NY/Authorlink News/March 08, 2010-- Barnes & Noble, Inc. this week named Jonathan Shar as General Manager, Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content, Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com). Mr. Shar will be responsible for creating and leading the digital newsstand and emerging content business, a large strategic focus for the company. He will work with newspaper, magazine, periodical, blogs and other content publishers, to sell and market their digital editorial products to millions of Barnes & Noble customers.

Mr. Shar joins Barnes & Noble from Time Warner's Time Inc. division where he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of CNNMoney.com. From 2003-2007, he was Vice President, Consumer Marketing for the Sports Illustrated Group, which includes the Sports Illustrated, SI for Kids and Golf brands.

"Barnes & Noble is the largest retailer of specialty magazines and newspapers in the U.S.," said William Lynch, President of Barnes & Noble.com. "It's been a big and strategic business for us for years, and we have very strong relationships with hundreds of newsstand publishers who want to work with us to distribute their content digitally. As we continue focus on digital distribution of books, newspapers and magazines, Jonathan is the right person to drive the major growth opportunity we have in this area."

Mr. Shar graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his MBA from the University of Michigan.

ABA Names Indie Award Finalists

ABA Names Indie Award Finalists

Tarrytown, NY./ AUTHORLINK NEWS/ March 2, 2010--The American Booksellers Association this week unveiled the finalists for the 2010 Indies Choice Book Awards.

Booksellers at ABA members stores will cast ballots to choose the winners in eight categories -- Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Adult Debut, Young Adult, Middle Reader, New Picture Book, Most Engaging Author, and Picture Book Hall of Fame -- throughout the month of March. The Indies Choice Book Awards reflect the spirit of independent bookstores and the IndieBound movement. The winners, to be announced in April, will be honored at BookExpo America 2010 in New York City.

The 2010 Indies Choice Book Awards Finalists:

BOOK OF THE YEAR -- ADULT FICTION
*Border Songs, by Jim Lynch (Knopf) *Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin (Scribner) *The Children's Book, by A.S. Byatt (Knopf) *Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (Knopf) *Generosity: An Enhancement, by Richard Powers (FSG) *Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (Holt)

BOOK OF THE YEAR -- ADULT NONFICTION
*Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) *Lit: A Memoir, by Mary Carr (HarperCollins) *The Lost City of Z, by David Grann (Doubleday) *Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small (W.W. Norton) *Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder (Random House) *When Everything Changed, by Gail Collins (Little, Brown)

BOOK OF THE YEAR -- ADULT DEBUT
*The Earth Hums in B Flat, by Mari Strachan (Canongate) *The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam) *The Piano Teacher, by Y.K. Lee (Viking) *The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larson (Penguin Press) *Still Alice, by Lisa Genova (Pocket) *Tinkers, by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press)

BOOK OF THE YEAR -- YOUNG ADULT
*Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic) *Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (Delacorte Books for Young Readers) *If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (Dutton Juvenile) *Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson (illus.) (Simon Pulse) *Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic) *Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking Juvenile)

BOOK OF THE YEAR -- MIDDLE READER
*Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko (Dial) *The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly (Holt) *Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins) *A Season of Gifts, by Richard Peck (Dial) *When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books) *Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (Little, Brown)

BOOK OF THE YEAR -- NEW PICTURE BOOK
*All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon, Maria Frazee (illus.) (Beach Lane Books) *The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown (Little, Brown) *The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown) *Listen to the Wind, by Greg Mortenson, Susan Roth (illus.) (Dial) *Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca (Richard Jackson Books) *Otis, by Loren Long (Philomel)
MOST ENGAGING AUTHOR (The author who is an in-store star as well as having a strong sense of the importance of indie booksellers to the community.)
*Isabel Allende *Laurie Halse Anderson *Libba Bray *Michael Chabon *Kate DiCamillo *Abraham Verghese

PICTURE BOOK HALL OF FAME
*Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz (Atheneum) *Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban (HarperCollins) *Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert (Simon & Schuster) *Corduroy, by Don Freeman (Viking) *Curious George, by H.A. Rey (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) *Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann (Putnam) *Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow) *The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper (Grosset & Dunlap/Philomel) *Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking) *Napping House, by Audrey Wood (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) *The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking) *Stellaluna, by Janelle Cannon (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) *The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson (Viking)
Booksellers will cast one vote in each of the Book of the Year and Most Engaging Author categories. The top vote getters will win the Indies Choice Book Awards, and the other finalists will be designated Indies Choice Honor Book Recipients. In the Picture Book Hall of Fame category, each bookseller will choose up to three favorites; the top three vote getters will be inducted into the Indies Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame.

The Indies Choice Book Awards finalists were selected by Adult and Children's juries, composed of ABA members. Finalists in the Book of the Year categories were chosen from titles appearing on the 2009 Indie Next Lists.

Jury members selecting the 2010 Adult finalists were Sally Brewster of Park Road Books in Charlotte, North Carolina; Sheryl Cotleur of Book Passage in Corte Madera, California; Joe Foster of Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado; Mark LaFramboise of Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.; Roberta Rubin of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Illinois; and Jonathon Welch of Talking Leaves in Buffalo, New York. The Adult jury was chaired by ABA Board member Betsy Burton of The King's English in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 2010 Children's jurists were Elizabeth Bluemle of The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont; Diane Capriola of Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia; Ellen Davis of Dragonwings Bookstore in Waupaca, Wisconsin; Alison Morris of Wellesley Booksmith in Wellesley, Massachusetts; and Andrea Vuleta of Mrs. Nelson's Toy & Book Shop in La Verne, California. The Children's jury was chaired by Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children.

About American Booksellers Association

Founded in 1900, the American Booksellers Association is a not-for-profit trade organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members -- independently owned bookstores with storefront locations -- through education, information dissemination, business products and services, and advocacy. ABA exists to protect and promote the interests of independent retail book businesses, as well as to protect the First Amendment rights of every American. The association actively supports free speech, literacy, and programs that support local and independent retail shops. A board of nine booksellers, representing thousands of members, governs the Association. ABA is headquartered in Tarrytown, New York.