Media Sales Up at Amazon

April 26, 2013

North America Media Sales Rose 14% at Amazon Amazon's sales rose 22% in the first quarter, to $16.07 billion, but net income fell 37%, to $87 million. Total media (which includes print books and e-books) sales rose 7% in the quarter, to $2.5 billion, while worldwide electronics and other general merchandise sales (which includes Kindle) increased 28%, to $6.1 billion. In North America, media revenue was up 14%. more » Judge Appears Poised to Toss Booksellers' Suit Faced with a paucity of evidence, Federal Judge Jed Rakoff yesterday appeared poised to dismiss a lawsuit filed by independent booksellers against Amazon and the big six publishers over Amazon's use of proprietary DRM in the Kindle e-reading platform. more » Rowman & Littlefield Buys Down East Book Assets The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group has acquired the book assets of Down East Enterprises, the Rockport, Me. publisher of books and magazines about all things Maine. The purchase involves over 450 titles in four imprints, Down East Books, Shooting Sportsman Press, Fly Rod & Reel Books and Countrysport Press. The magazines that spawned those imprints remain with Down East Enterprises, and RPLG will continue to publish books under the imprints. more » Sontz Named CEO of Powell's Books Miriam Sontz, a 28-year employee of Powell's Books and who most recently has been chief operating officer, has been appointed CEO of the Portland, Ore. independent bookstore. Sontz succeeds Emily Powell who has been CEO since 2010. more » Today's Job BookBub is seeking a Director of Editorial Operations. Maybe it's you! For more about this and other jobs, visit PW JobZone. To post a new job, click here. 2013 Pulitzer Winners Get Sales Spike It's only been one week since the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, but all five books that were awarded have already started to see the effects in sales with the poetry winner having the biggest gain. more » » Comics Specialty Market Continues to Grow The comics specialty market was up 29% over last year in the first quarter, according to figures released at the 2013 Diamond Retailer Summit in Chicago. The figures surprised most all in attendance, who attributed the gain to general interest in "nerd culture." more » » World Book Night 2013 Stats: More College Student Involvement World Book Night announced preliminary statistics on where WBN book givers went on April 23, reporting a third each in school, health and service, and general 'around town' categories. more » » THE ROUNDUP Advice for Aspiring Children's Authors: At the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books last weekend, three writers shared advice for aspiring children's book authors. Alexandria is Most Well-Read City: According to Amazon. DeLillo Wins Library of Congress Prize: Don DeLillo, the celebrated novelist who once complained that as a young writer he "lacked ambition," has been named the first recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. Richard Dawkins Named Top Thinker: In a poll, evolutionary biologist beats four Nobel prize winners for his global influence and significance on the year's biggest questions. Fight Over Use of Term 'Superhero': Ray Felix created the series 'A World Without Superheroes' and was opposed by DC and Marvel Comics, who share a trademark on the word 'superhero.' VIEW ALL » Authors on the Air Authors on the Air April 26, 2013: Charles Graeber The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber (Twelve; 9780446505291) will be featured on CBS-TV/60 Minutes this Sunday, April 28. Graeber will also be on CBS-TV/This Morning on Monday, April 29. more » » BLOGS PWxyz Blog Claire Kirch World Book Night in Small-Town America Giving away books around America. more » Beyond Her Book Barbara Vey Authors at Libraries Last night there was a library event I moderated with Eileen Dreyer and Allison Leotta and this morning I'm driving them over to be on The Morning Blend tv show. more » ShelfTalker Elizabeth Bluemle A Series Plea Three very simple things publishers can do with series books to reach customers more effectively. more » PICTURE OF THE DAY Typewriters on Chicago Streets To celebrate National Letter-Writing Month, Loyola Press and authors of Love and Salt: A Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters, Jessica Mesman Griffith and Amy Andrews, set up four vintage manual typewriters in front in front of Women & Children Bookstore in Chicago and offered free Love & Salt stationery and stamps to any one passing by who wanted to stop and write a letter.	Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Of Note BookShout Gets $6 Million BookShout, the social reading and book retail application, has raised $6 million in new funding that it will use to expand its digital book distribution and engagement platform. more » Podcast: Who Will Save Our Books? A bestselling author has sent out an S-O-S for the book trade. Last week James Patterson took out ads on the cover of Publisher Weekly, in The New York Times Book Review, and in Kirkus asking the questions, "Who will save our books? Our bookstores? Our libraries?" Listen here. more »

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