At some point back in 2013, I asked a senior publisher if they had a contingency plan for a world with fewer high street bookshops. It was a period when ebook sales were growing ever bigger, taking chunks out of print fiction’s market share; Amazon was revelling in its recent victory over those publishers who had pushed through agency terms for ebook sales; and Waterstones had not yet secured its future under m.d. James Daunt. It was the moment when Foyles’ then c.e.o., Sam Husain, wrote an open letter to publishers calling for a “complete rethink” of the bookselling model. Continue reading at 'The Bookseller'
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
In the last four years, Waterstones has changed to a company which is more customer-focused, with booksellers who have more flexible working hours, more accountability and higher energy, according to the chain’s m.d. James Daunt was speaking on the subject of the value of booksellers in a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones is set to open a store in Welwyn Garden City next month after being “petitioned” by the town’s residents. The chain will open a branch in Howardsgate on 25th July, with a special Peter Rabbit family fun day. The shop will include a cafe as well as a stock of close to 20,000... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones stores across the country will host midnight openings to celebrate the release of Harper Lee’s forthcoming novel Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann), while the company’s flagship Piccadilly shop will host a festival. M.d. James Daunt has called the launch a "thrilling"... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles new c.e.o Paul Currie has said the company’s new Birmingham store will be its “model of the future.” Speaking at former c.e.o Sam Husain’s retirement party last night (8th June), which also celebrated the first anniversary of the new Foyles flagship store on Charing Cross Road, Currie... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A “standout” Pan Macmillan and a resurgent Waterstones were two of the big winners at the Bookseller Industry Awards 2015, taking home the Publisher and Retailer of the Year prizes, respectively. Sam Husain, the recently retired c.e.o. of Foyles, was honoured with the BA Award for Outstanding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books’ market share of new-book sales increased slightly in 2014 over 2013, while the share of all book sales made through online retailers and bookstore chains dipped in the same period. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sam Husain has fought off the threat of ebooks and online retailers to make Foyles bookshops profitable again. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2015-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The real-time lyrics feature that Spotify added to its desktop app this past week hasn’t impressed the U.S. karaoke industry. Joseph C Vangieri, the CEO of DigiTrax, has called it “unfair competition for us American ‘Karaoke’ companies.”Lest you think that he has a beef with Spotify, know that... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones shops should be "significantly more entrepreneurial than they are at the moment", James Daunt has said. Speaking on a panel at the IPG spring conference about chain bookshops, alongside Blackwell's David Prescott, Daunt said that the "point at which we become more confident in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones has passionate booksellers who are “handselling again”, breaking début novelists and “building careers”, according to publishers. Chief executives and sales directors of publishing houses have spoken to The Bookseller following the release of the chain retailer’s annual results (to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reports that physical books are gaining ground at the expense of digital are just plain wrongHas the ebook had its day? If you’ve skimmed a newspaper over the past month you could be forgiven for thinking just that. “The physical book market is making a comeback after years of decline,”... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sam Husain is to retire from his position as c.e.o of Foyles in April after eight years at the helm of the bookseller. Former Hamleys c.o.o. Paul Currie will replace him. Husain will step down on his 68th birthday in April. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Led by hits from David Walliams, Jeff Kinney and Egmont’s Minecraft stable, the UK children’s market hit an all-time high in revenue and market share in 2014, and exceeded sales of Adult Fiction for the first time since accurate records began. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With the public promiscuously hopping from one format to another, reports of the e-reader’s death look distinctly prematureWe have barely stumbled into 2015 and already some commentators are calling time on the ebook. The analysis was provoked by Waterstones’ managing director, James Daunt, who... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones’ core Christmas sales were up over 5% year-on-year but overall revenue was hit by lower sales of Kindle devices. The chain bookseller’s m.d, James Daunt, said the company had a “solid” Christmas and was pleased with sales of books, stationery and toys, with new stores in the estate... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With questions still lingering about Sony Pictures's release plans for the Seth Rogen comedy 'The Interview,' after the studio suffered a cyber attack and a terrorist threat issued by the North Korean government, the PEN American Center has published an open letter to Sony CEO Michael Lynton,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Tim Cook published an open letter in September to address iCloud privacy and security concerns, he said free online services treat you, the consumers, as product. Even newcomer Ello, which is dubbed the anti-Facebook, has a manifesto that ends w... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) has written an open letter to the Imperial War Museum, expressing concern over the threat to its unique library. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones will “break even” this year if the retailer has a good Christmas, according to its m.d James Daunt. In an interview with the Guardian, the Waterstones boss said the chain’s intention was to eradicate its losses by the end of its financial year. “We are heading towards break-even in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Austrian, Swiss and German authors have sent an open letter of protest to Amazon, protesting the use of 'authors and their books as a bargaining chip to exact deeper discounts.' Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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