In our last issue, we brought you up to date on recent news at Barnes & Noble, where a new COO (but not CEO) was appointed just as B&N concept stores—with booze-inspired restaurants—were opening across the country.
Well, there’s another development: earlier this week, Jamie Carey, the president of B&N’s development and restaurant group, resigned after a 13-year stint with the company. As Michael Cader at Publishers Lunch points out (subscription required), acting CEO Len Riggio has been “undoing various initiatives” from the previous CEO’s administration. Now we’re left wondering how much patience and enthusiasm B&N’s current exec team might have for restaurant management. (No reports have yet been released on how the concept stores are performing.)
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.
