Barnes and Noble has announced their intention of spinning off their college bookstore division into its own autonomous unit called Barnes and Noble for Education.Barnes and Noble for Education will be its own publicly traded company and the anticipated restructuring should be completed by late August. This is around the same time period in which Nook Digital will also … [Read more...] about Barnes and Noble Spins College BookStores Into Separate Company
Bookselling News
First Round of Reader-Selected Kindle Scout Titles Ready for Pre-Order
Amazon is always on the lookout for ways to improve both the reading and the publishing experiences, and the introduction of Kindle Scout is no exception. The process, which is aimed at helping uncover worthy books, levels the playing field in a number of ways by allowing reading consumers to have a say in the selection process.“Since we opened our doors we’ve been busy … [Read more...] about First Round of Reader-Selected Kindle Scout Titles Ready for Pre-Order
Lost Sherlock Holmes Tale is Stirring Controversy
A long lost  Sherlock Holmes short story has been unearthed and is garnering a fair amount of controversy.  Did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle pen the 1,300 word adventure or not?In 1902 in the Scottish town of Selkirk experienced a massive flood. A local wooden bridge over the river Ettrick had been destroyed and the town needed money to build a new traffic bridge. The famous … [Read more...] about Lost Sherlock Holmes Tale is Stirring Controversy
Waterstones Makes e-book Recommendations via Source Code
Waterstones is the largest bookstore chain in the United Kingdom. The bookseller prides themselves positioning titles in the stores and online in order to assist people in discovering a brand new title. The company has gone beyond algorithms that monitor your website browsing behavior and is making active recommendations within their source code.Many young web developers … [Read more...] about Waterstones Makes e-book Recommendations via Source Code
Lets Talk Books – Ready Player One
Once in awhile a book comes along with a unique premise and solid execution. The kind of book that people include in their top 10 lists and recommend to friends with great gusto. Ready Player One by Ernest Kline is such a book.The Book centers around the Oasis, a virtual reality system in which all of the games of the world are interconnected. Instead of accessing World of … [Read more...] about Lets Talk Books – Ready Player One
Amazon Drone Delivery Hits Regulatory Snag
Remote-operator drone regulations were proposed by the FAA last week, and they may have dealt a death-blow to Amazon's 2013 announcement that the company was actively pursuing the idea of using drones for package delivery. While mocked at the time, drone delivery is a concept that would save the company somewhere in the neighborhood of a billion dollars a year while reducing … [Read more...] about Amazon Drone Delivery Hits Regulatory Snag
50 Shades of Grey to Save Bookstores Once More
The first book in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy was released in March 2012 and by the end of 2014 it had sold over 140 million copies. Bookstores all over North America and the United Kingdom all reported dramatic profits with each new installment of the book and setup huge installments to get people buying the books. Even University and College bookstores jumped into the … [Read more...] about 50 Shades of Grey to Save Bookstores Once More
Family Christian Bookstore Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Family Christian Bookstores which sells books, bibles, supplies and other faith related materials has filed for bankruptcy protection. The company currently runs over 266 stores across 36 States.The largest Christian bookstore chain in the US plans on remaining open during the restructuring of the company and 3,100 employees will continue to have a job for the … [Read more...] about Family Christian Bookstore Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Hosting an Author Giveaway – Part II
In yesterday's post on Amazon's new giveaway tool, there were some initial steps for ensuring the platform works for you as best it can. Here are some follow up steps to take to make sure you're getting the most from your efforts.3. Speaking of Winners (and the losers, for that matter) - Make sure you're taking full advantage of the winner and loser messages on your … [Read more...] about Hosting an Author Giveaway – Part II
Tips for Authors Hosting an Amazon Giveaway – Part I
Amazon's new giveaway tool was only launched this week but it has already received more than its fair share of criticism. Complaints about favoriting Twitter followers and automatically receiving notifications every time those people tweet are valid; it didn't have to work that way. But the demands from consumers for a centralized location of all the giveaways so they can just … [Read more...] about Tips for Authors Hosting an Amazon Giveaway – Part I
Christian Fiction Experiences a Dramatic Decline in Sales
Christian Fiction is on the decline, as overall book sales have plummeted 15% from 2013 to 2014. Â Today we look at some of the reasons why this sector is crashing and what the industry is doing about it.Publishers are not too concerned right now with the decrease in Christian book sales, whether its print or digital. Instead of lamenting how their industry is suffering, … [Read more...] about Christian Fiction Experiences a Dramatic Decline in Sales
Amazon Launches Giveaway Tool
In great news for authors--or anyone who want to leverage the scope and power of Amazon's customer base--Amazon unveiled a new tool that allows anyone to host a giveaway through the platform. Under Amazon Giveaways, the order fulfillment--whether it's a self-published ebook or today's hot up-for-grabs items, such as the crowd-pleasing Hutzler Banana Slicer (seriously, the … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches Giveaway Tool
Hybrid Crowdfunding Blends Two Publishing Paths
When author Solomon Inkwell queried agents with his YA vampire novel Vickie Van Helsing, he received an immediate, eager response. The literary agent who called, however, had only just finished praising the sample chapters when he said, "But I can't sell a vampire novel to a publisher. What else ya got?"Inkwell, who had taken almost two years to pen his debut novel, turned … [Read more...] about Hybrid Crowdfunding Blends Two Publishing Paths