The 39th annual meeting of the Association of American Publishers began in New York city this morning before about 150 industry executives with an appreciative farewell to outgoing president Pat Schroeder, the late addition to the program of a brief address on education from former US president Bill Clinton, and an interview between AAP chairman Richard Sarnoff and Google svp for corporate development and chief legal officer David Drummond who noted, with at least an element of seriousness, “I was scheduled to be at this meeting last year” to discuss the settlement of publishers’ lawsuits. Reflecting on the busy year […]
Archives for March 2009
Wiley's Pesce Forsees Trade Turnaround
John Wiley’s conference call with investors following yesterday’s quarterly earnings release yielded more interesting conversation than these events often produce. (It includes a discussion of possible economic models to drive open access research publishing). CEO William Pesce says that in the “very weak retail environment particularly in the US….we’re anticipating that the improvement will come or begin to come in the fourth quarter. That assumes of course that there’s nothing that happens in a significant way in terms of markets deteriorating any further.” But he added, “we’re not expecting a huge turnaround in the market in the fourth quarter but […]
Readers Digest to End Two Weekly Reader Properties
In Reader’s Digest’s Weekly Reader Publishing Group, the company is exiting two businesses that serve the library market. Their World Almanac Education Library Services “will close by the end of this fiscal year.” Gareth Stevens Publishing is being offered for sale through Broadwater & Associates. The two businesses formerly were part of WRC Media, a company that was integrated into Reader’s Digest in 2007 when it was acquired by investors led by Ripplewood Holdings.
Clinton to Address AAP Meeting
The AAP has announced former President Bill Clinton as a late addition to the schedule for tomorrow’s annual meeting, where he will “share his views on the current state of education and what lies ahead.”
On Dalrymple
Provided by Hachette Book Group: Dennis M. Dalrymple died Thursday, March 5, in New York City. He was 67. He is survived by his wife, Jamie Raab, and their children, son Ian Dalrymple and daughter Lola Dalrymple. The cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. In a forty year career in book publishing as a literary contracts expert, he consulted with hundreds of authors, publishers and literary agents. He worked with such companies as Avon Books, Dell Publishing and Harper and Row (now HarperCollins), and then joined Warner Books as Director of Contracts where he stayed for 17 years. There, he […]
Currency Holds Wiley Back; Trade Suffers
Sales at Wiley fell 13 percent in their fiscal third quarter to $374 million, with the company citing a “$47 million unfavorable foreign exchange impact” and also suffering from weakness in the US trade segment. (They say that sales fell 2 percent without the currency effects, “due to market conditions affecting the Professional/Trade business and processing delays in STMS related to journal subscription renewals.”) Income before taxes fell 16 percent to $44 million, with adjusted earnings per diluted share down 15 percent at $0.57. Wiley reduced full-year sales guidance “from mid single digit growth to low single digit growth on […]