Sales at Simon & Schuster fell 6 percent in their fiscal first quarter, down $10 million to $151.7 million. But adjusted OIBDA improved to $3.6 million, still slim but an improvement over essentially no earnings this time last year. The unit did take an additional $1.5 million restructuring charge during this quarter, related to previously-announced reorganizations of their Australian unit the US field sales force. Parent company CBS blames “the continued soft retail market,” which was “partially offset by significantly higher digital sales…such as ebooks, audio downloads and stand-alone applications.” The improvement in margins is “the result of strong cost […]
Archives for May 2010
With or Without You, Your Google Editions Will Have Unique ISBNs
Google has finally made public their decision on identifiers for products sold through Google Editions. They will use the industry-standard ISBN–as opposed to vendors like Amazon, who assign their own unique ASINs to Kindle books. Google hopes that publishers will assign unique ISBNs to their Google Editions products on their own, but if they don’t, Google will assign numbers themselves in an agreement announced today with US ISBN agency Bowker. Google’s Tom Turvey says in the announcement “this decision was driven by the book industry’s strong reliance on the ISBN along with our partner-centric business and distribution models. We look […]
In Reorganization, Octopus USA to Close As UK Cuts List and Consults on Job Reductions
“Strategic changes” from the Octopus Publishing Group in London include the closing of Octopus USA, launched within Hachette Book Group USA at the beginning of last year. As a result, USA associate publisher Jonathan Stolper and director of publicity and marketing Andrea Glickson’s jobs are being eliminated, though the company says they “launched and managed the Octopus USA business very successfully, and Octopus’ profile in North America has grown significantly thanks to their hard work.” HBG’s client services group will continue to handle sales and distribution of Octopus titles here. In the broader reorganization of the unit, they will focus […]
After Textbook Bribes, Macmillan UK Is Barred from World Bank Contracts
Macmillan’s UK education division admitted to making bribes “in an [unsuccessful] attempt to get a contract to print textbooks” for an education project in Sudan whose funds were administered by the World Bank. As a result, the bank has barred Macmillan Limited from eligibility for bank-financed contracts for six years. Macmillan would not discuss the incident with Reuters, but a spokesperson said “We will not tolerate improper behavior as a company, and the fact that we have worked closely with the World Bank to reach this agreement is evidence of that. There is no suggestion that these concerns have affected […]
Barnes & Noble Launches HP Store
BN’s online ebookstore for Hewlett-Packard launched today at hp.bn.com. HP announced a new line of computers today, and will link to the store from their PCs.
Canadian Dollar Hurts Torstar Sales (But Helps Profits)
Sales at Torstar’s Harlequin unit fell in their first quarter, ending March 31, at $113 million down more than 9 percent from $124.5 million a year ago. EBITDA rose over 9 percent, though, to $23.7 million. The company says North American retail and overseas sales fell, as digital revenues had “strong growth.” In a bit of a paradox, the rising Canadian dollar accounts for $10 million of the drop in sales, but foreign exchange also contributed to the rise in profits.Release