Fallout from the global economic meltdown continues to rattle the publishing industry. I’m not trying to bum anyone out, but it’s good to be able to read the tea leaves. Not that it will stop any of us from Our Work.

Hat tip to Publisher’s Lunch for these snippets:

Shares in Barnes & Noble touched all-time lows in Tuesday’s trading with the company’s market cap below $800 million after dropping almost 6 percent–and the decline has continued in early trading today. On Thursday the retailer will report quarterly earnings. Their guidance forecast a loss of 10 cents to 15 cents a share, but analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect a loss of 16 cents per share, on sales of $1.17 billion. BAMM reports on Friday, and Borders releases results on Tuesday, November 25 after the market closes. At current prices, the market value of Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million and Hastings all together is less than $950 million. LINK

Announcing third quarter results, Books-a-Million said that sales of $111 million were down 5.7 percent overall, and down 9.9 percent on a same-store sales basis. Their net loss was $2.2 million, compared to a loss of $555,000 a year ago. CEO Sandra Cochran says: “We faced dramatic macroeconomic headwinds, and as a result we experienced our weakest comparable store sales in many years. The negative trends were broadly felt across most categories although bargain books, gifts and teen provided positive results. Our entire team remains focused on adjusting to this difficult environment by controlling costs, managing inventory and preparing for the holiday season.” LINK

Deepening concerns about holiday book sales and third-quarter earnings pressured Borders Group Inc. Friday as its stock dipped below a dollar during trading before rebounding slightly. The number of customers walking into bookstores has fallen sharply in the past month and investors are concerned that Borders will show further signs of weakness when it reports quarterly results Tuesday. The book retailer is expected to post a loss of 50 cents a share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. LINK

Time to buy more books.

Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She has written two novels under the pseudonym Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter--both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President's teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins.
Kathleen Bolton
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