Barnes & Noble to Offer Digital Self-Publishing

Barnes & Noble is entering the self-publishing business with the summer launch of PubIt! by Barnes & Noble that will allow independent publishers and self-publishing writers to distribute their works digitally through Barnes & Noble.com and the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. Publication and distribution will be limited to digital works with no sales through the B&N stores. The company said it will release details of the royalty model and compensation process at a later date.

Barnes & Noble Adds CDs, DVDs to Marketplace

When William Lynch took over as CEO of Barnes & Noble he promised that the company would diversify the products its sells through Barnes & Noble.com and this morning the company announced that it will begin selling new and used CDs and DVDs online through its Marketplace program.

Bull Moose to Grow Book Side

Earlier this year Bull Moose, a 10-store New England chain specializing in music, movies, and video games, added new and used books to its Bangor location. Three months later, founder and owner Brett Wickard said that he is ready to roll out books chain-wide when the opportunity arises.

Book Comps Slip at Hastings

Comparable store book sales at Hastings Entertainment fell 1.2% for the first quarter ended April 30, the retailer reported this morning. Hastings attributed the decline to lower sales of new trade paperbacks and hardcovers and difficult comparisons to last year's first period when sales of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga were still very strong.

Half Price Operating at Full Speed

At a time when many bookstores are struggling, Half Price Books, based in Dallas and the largest family-owned independent bookstore chain in the country, continues to post steady growth, with sales between 2005 and 2009 increasing 44%, to $204.4 million. According to president and CEO Sharon Anderson Wright, sales are up 9% through March for the fiscal year ending June 30, and comp store sales grew 6%.

March Bookstore Sales Rise 1.6%

Bookstore sales rose 1.6% in March, to $1.01 billion, according to preliminary estimates released this morning from the U.S. Census Bureau. For the first quarter of 2010, bookstore sales were up 1.2%, to $4.32 billion. Sales for 2009 have been restated as were sales for January and February. For the entire retail segment, March sales rose 10.8% and for the quarter were up 6.2%.

Barnes & Noble Signs New Deals with the Riggios

As it prepares for what could be a showdown with Ron Burkle at its September annual meeting, Barnes & Noble has signed new employment contracts with Len Riggio and Steve Riggio for the men to serve as chairman and vice chairman, respectively. Len Riggio has long served as chairman of the book retailer, but did so without a formal contract. The new agreement is for one year beginning on May 12 and will automatically renew for another year unless either party gives the other party 90 days’ written notice, materials filed with the SEC said. Steve Riggio will serve a similar term.

Books & Books Partnering with Jack McKeown for Hamptons Store

Mitchell Kaplan has added another affiliate to his Books & Books business, teaming with industry veteran Jack McKeown to open a bookstore in Long Island's Hamptons in July. McKeown will own and manage Books & Books Westhampton Beach, while Kaplan will provide a range of services.

Tapping into the National Parks

People don't come to a park to buy a book," acknowledges Derek Gallagher, director of publications for Western National Parks Association, headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., which operates bookstores at 65 sites from California to Kansas, Montana to Texas, and online at wnpa.org. "But they do expect a park to have an authoritative source."

Seeing the Big Picture

Picture a reader of a large-print book. Many associations would be perfectly reasonable based on the category's historical customer base. Perhaps the reader is a person with a disability who is reading a specially formatted text version of the latest Dan Brown novel, or a senior at a retirement community racing through a cozy mystery or fast-paced thriller checked out from the library.

Burkle Sues Barnes & Noble

The battle between Barnes & Noble's largest outside shareholder, Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos., and the nation's largest bookselling company has moved to court with Burkle filing a lawsuit in a Delaware court over what Burkle claims is the poison pill B&N adopted to prevent him from acquiring a larger position in B&N. The shareholder’s rights plan, the suit says, creates a "slanted playing field" in favor of Len and Steve Riggio who together with other senior company executives control 32% of B&N's stock. Burkle owns about 19% of the retailer’s stock and said he would like to acquire up to a 37% interest in the company, calling B&N's share price undervalued.

Spiegel & Grau Look to Indies to Boost Martel

With poor reviews from the Times, Washington Post and PW, Spiegel & Grau's Cindy Spiegel sent a blast to NEIBA members asking them to hold discussions about Yann Martel's new book at their stores to let readers make up their own minds about the novel. The blast to the NEIBA listserv was the first under a new program.

Midwest Booksellers Association Gets TV Spot

The Midwest Booksellers Association is partnering with KSTP, the ABC television affiliate in the Twin Cities, to launch an on-air book club on the channel's Twin Cities Live program, hosted by Elizabeth Ries. Each quarter, Ries, assisted by MBA staff, will select a title of special interest to Upper Midwest readers to feature on her television book club. Each selection will be introduced at a Thursday evening preview party, held at a Twin Cities MBA member bookstore. The next day, the book selection will be officially announced before a live audience on Twin Cities Live.

2010 Pannell Winners Announced

The 2010 Pannell Award winners have been announced. Green Toad Bookstore in Oneonta, N.Y., has won in the general bookstore category; an honorable mention was awarded to Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Wash. Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Ga., won in the children's bookstore category.

New Fiction Tops International Bestseller Lists

New fiction titles led bestseller lists in three major international markets in March. Eight out of 10 slots on Germany's Buchreport fiction list were brand new. Bumble Dumb, the fourth novel by German comedian Tommy Jaud, took the top spot. But the list also included three American novels, including Abandoned by Cody McFadyen, which Bantam published in the U.

Bookseller of the Year: City Lights

On a clear spring San Francisco evening about 100 people cram every free space on the main floor of City Lights Bookstore and spill out onto Columbus Avenue to hear Homero Aridjis, the Mexican poet-activist, read from his latest collection, Solar Poems, just published by City Lights Publishers. As is typical at City Lights events, the crowd features faces of every age, shape, and color, and as ...

Ronald Koltnow: Rep of theYear

Hilary Emerson Lay, manager of the Spirit of '76 Bookstore & Card Shop in Marblehead, Mass., would have recommended Ronald Koltnow for Rep of the Year much sooner, she says, but she assumed he had already earned that distinction. After all, as she wrote in her nominating e-mail, “he is one of the most well-read and truly bibliophilic reps I've ever known.

ABFFE Seeks Bookseller Plaintiffs in Alaska and Massachusetts

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is asking bookstores to become plaintiffs in challenges to new censorship laws in Alaska and Massachusetts. Both laws ban the electronic communications of material that is "harmful to minors," which includes the display of "harmful" book jackets and excerpts on booksellers' Web sites. ABFFE president Chris Finan said his organization has helped overturn eight similar laws.

'Sleeping Beauties' a Sleeper Hit for Sellers

IndieBound Goes to the U.K.