- Hastings Entertainment has filed for bankruptcy. Hastings is a retailer of books, music, and video games that operates 123 superstores, primarily in the south central United States. Unless a buyer is found, the company will shut down in July. It owes millions of dollars to banks, publishers, and distributors. Given years of substantial losses, the bankruptcy isn’t exactly a surprise. The Wall Street Journal said (subscription required), “A declining market for physical movies, music, books, and games hurt Hastings’s revenues, as online sources of entertainment began to dominate. A cost-cutting campaign and emphasis on product lines such as children’s products, comics, and hobbies weren’t enough to reverse the trend.” Read more in Publishers Weekly.
- Barnes & Noble now offers a print-on-demand publishing platform for US-based authors. It’s similar to Amazon’s CreateSpace, except distribution is limited to Barnes & Noble. (Exclusivity is not required.) If your ebook reaches specific sales thresholds, the print edition becomes eligible for retail distribution and other promotional opportunities. Find out more at the B&N site.
- Penguin Random House (PRH) is selling Fodor’s to an online media and technology company. PRH has owned the brand for thirty years and will continue to act as a distributor for the print guides. Given that sales of print travel books have declined by more than 50 percent over the last decade, it’s not a surprising development—all the major US guidebook brands have changed ownership recently. Read more at the Skift.
- Amazon is more strongly enforcing its terms of service on affiliate marketers. Two services that used Amazon affiliate links in inappropriate ways have closed: Pixel of Ink and eReaderIQ. Find out more at the Digital Reader.
- Hachette UK has acquired a British-based mobile games development company. The Bookseller reports that Hachette “has been developing a plan to diversify into the games market” and that the company expects all trade and educational publishers will become 50 percent digital within the next five to ten years. Read more about the deal.
- Thomas Dunne, an imprint at St. Martin’s, is downsizing. It will continue to acquire titles, but most staffers will be absorbed into St. Martin’s. In an announcement, the publisher said that forty-five-year publishing vet Thomas Dunne wished to produce a “smaller, curated list of books close to his heart.” Read more at Publishers Weekly.
- Tate Publishing is being sued by Xerox. If you’ve been considering Tate as a publishing service, it may be time to rethink. Read Victoria Strauss’s report at Writer Beware.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.