Amazon's Sales Soar
Sales in Amazon's North American media group, home to books and other entertainment products, rose 24% in the second quarter, to $1.15 billion, and increased 23% for the first six months of 2008, to $2.35 billion. Total Amazon revenue in the quarter jumped 41%, to $4.06 billion, and the company expects full-year sales to be about $20 billion.
Sony Reader to Use epub Standard
Sony announced last week that it is adopting the IDPF's epub e-book standard for its Sony Reader. Beginning in August, all new devices shipped will use epub, and owners of model number 505 can go to esupport.sony.com to update their devices' software for epub support. The move away from Sony's closed system is expected to increase the number of e-books compatible with the Reader well beyond the 45,000 now available through its online store.
'Suns' Set for November
Riverhead will publish Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns November 25 as a $16 trade paperback. The hardcover edition, released in May 2007, has shipped more than 2.3 million copies. No print run for the trade paperback set yet.
Hachette USA Sales Up
Revenue at Lagardère Publishing rose 1.3% in the first six months of 2008, to 908 million euros, parent company Lagardère reported. The overall increase was negatively impacted by currency exchanges with the dollar, but Hachette Book Group USA nevertheless turned in a strong performance, with sales increasing at a “rapid pace” in the second period, the company said. James Patterson and Stephenie Meyer continued to be the key authors for the house. Lagardère expects publishing to have a strong finish, including fiction in the U.S.
DC Crime Imprint Formed
DC Comics has formed Vertigo Crime, an offshoot of its edgy Vertigo imprint, which will feature standalone graphic crime novels. The new line will launch in 2009 with two lead titles, one by Ian Rankin and another by Brian Azzarello. Will Dennis will be the imprint's editor.
Obituary: Eleanor Friede
Eleanor Friede, whose career in publishing included stops at Macmillan and Delacorte as well as her own literary agency, died July 14. She was 87. Friede began her career at World Publishing and eventually joined the marketing department at Macmillan. While at Macmillan, Friede moved into editorial, where she acquired Richard Bach's bestseller, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. After leaving Macmillan for Delacorte, Friede began her own imprint and closed out her career as head of her own literary agency.
Correction:
The feature “Kids' Stores Grow Up” (July 21) misidentified the location of the bookstore Once Upon a Time; it is in Montrose, Calif.
