
Online Sales

First published in 2014, the second edition of the controversial “Author Earnings Report” was released this week. Written by the mysterious “Data Guy,” the report claims that traditional publishers, particularly the Big 5, have experienced a significant slump in ebook sales on Amazon in 2015 while indie-published authors surged ahead. According to Data Guy, “The…
What does Half Price Books, No. 3 U.S. bookstore chain, think about Amazon.com opening bookstores? Amazon is probably finding out with the one store it opened in Seattle last year that “it’s not as easy and running a warehouse,” said Half Price Books executive vice president Kathy Doyle Thomas. But more importantly, she said, Half…
SEATTLE — Amazon signs may be headed to more physical storefronts. The Internet retailer plans to open more brick-and-mortar bookstores following the unveiling last year of one such location here in its hometown, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential plans. But the company’s…
Amazon's holiday quarter profit missed Wall Street's estimates by a wide margin as the world's No. 1 online retailer faced rising operating costs and growth slowed in its cloud services business. Its shares plunged 12 percent after hours on Thursday, after its quarterly report, following a 9 percent increase in regular trading.
JK Rowling’s Pottermore company, which until recently maintained a stranglehold over digital versions of the acclaimed books, has enjoyed an upsurge in revenue in recent months. Sales rose by more than 100 per cent in the final three months of 2015 compared with the previous quarter. With the firm continuing to expand its reach in…
Authors and book marketers are always looking for ways to increase discoverability and revenue of their backlist books, and price promotions are a known way to reach a high volume of readers. But how can you run the most effective promotion possible? Using data to determine what kind of price promotion you should run can…
Ebook preview widgets have been around for quite awhile but when was the last time you saw one on a blog or website? I can’t recall the last one I saw but I’ll bet that’s about to change. Amazon recently released their Kindle Instant Previews widget and it does what its name suggests. In short,…
When it comes to the business of books – a staple of under-the-tree gifting – there are actually two Christmas stories. The first – for physical books – ramps up throughout December and ends by Dec. 25. In Canada, a typical week sees about 700,000 books sold. But, in the weeks before Christmas, that number…
In the wake of declining sales and increasing debt, Barnes & Noble is struggling to deliver growth, increase foot traffic in its stores, sell more digital goods and otherwise race against the clock to find a winning formula before it suffers the same fate as former chief rival Borders. Facing stiff competition from Barnes &…
NEW YORK—November 24, 2015—Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the nation’s largest retail bookseller and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, is kicking off Black Friday Weekend with deals customers can’t miss at its nearly 650 stores nationwide and online at BN.com/blackfriday. Since there’s no discovery more exhilarating to a booklover than…