Andrew Wylie has made good on threats to create his own company to distribute ebooks by making deals directly with etailers rather than traditional publishers, announcing the launch of Odyssey Editions. In the first announcement, Odyssey will issue ebook versions of select titles from some of the key authors and literary estates The Wylie Agency represents, including John Updike, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis and Hunter Thompson–and has given Amazon a two-year exclusive. The 20 titles announced so far including the Rabbit tetralogy from John Updike, MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN and LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov. Many of these titles are appearing in digital […]
Archives for July 2010
Scholastic Beats Expectations with Robust Q4 and Decent Fiscal Year
Scholastic reported sales from continuing operations in their fourth quarter of $538.4 million, up 9 percent from the prior period. Consolidated earnings per diluted share were $0.79 in the quarter, compared to $0.76 in the prior year period, taking into account a one-time, mostly non-cash expenses of $0.18 per share in the current period and a net one-time item gain of $0.06 per share in the prior period. Their children’s publishing and distriibution division, sales were up 6% to $273.5 million, “outperforming the book publishing and book selling industry during the period.” Segment operating income increased 40% to $50.7 million, […]
1 million E-Books for the Millenium Trilogy, Hyperion Cancels Book by Elizabeth Gilbert’s Ex-Husband; and More Briefs
Knopf announced that Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy has sold more than 1 million e-book copies, according to the AP. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, in particular, is doing extremely well, selling more than 500,000 copies in all digital formats as well as being the all-time top selling Kindle book (Kathryn Stockett’s THE HELP is at #2.) “We are witnessing record-breaking sales for THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO in trade and mass market paperback as well as in audio, so it is not surprising that this trend is being mirrored with e-books,” Knopf spokesman Paul Bogaards told the AP […]
People and Announcements
At Grand Central Publishing, Melissa Bullock has been promoted to Publicist for Business Plus. At Viking, Kevin Doughten has been promoted to Editor. Pan Macmillan senior publicist Jacqui Graham is leaving the company after more than 32 years in her role, though she will continue to work with select authors the company publishes on a freelance basis. Louise Quayle has joined The Robbins Office as Foreign Rights Director. Most recently she was Director of Domestic Rights at Doubleday; before that, she handled foreign rights for the Ellen Levine Agency. Katie Hut is leaving the agency on July 30 in order […]
eNews: Another Monster Quarter from Apple; More Companies Want in on Tablets; and More
Apple posted more big gains in its third quarter report, with revenue jumping 61% to $15.7 billion. The numbers surpassed Wall Street expectations and shrugging off recent questions about antenna problems related to the iPhone 4, released just three days before the end of Q3. IPhone sales totaled 8.4 million units during the quarter, while Apple also sold 3.27 million iPads, in line with analyst predictions. For the fourth quarter, Apple said it expects revenue of $18 billion and earnings of $3.44 per share.Release In other tablet device news, Lenovo says its Android-based LePad tablet will be released by the […]
People, Awards and Announcements
At Ballantine Bantam Dell, Mark Tavani has been promoted to Editorial Director for Fiction. Scribd has hired Robert R. Macdonald as Senior Vice President of Business Development, to work out of the company’s soon-to-be-announced location in Manhattan. Previously he led media and strategic partnerships at Google. In partnership with Alibris, Borders has launched Borders Textbook Marketplace, featuring more than 1.4 million titles and a buyback option.Release Seamus Heaney and previous winners Robin Robertson and Jo Shapscott are among those shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Poetry. The winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced on October 6.BBC Square One […]