Lagardere reported sales for the first half of the year, with Lagardere Publishing recording declines in both sales and profits. Sales of 900 million euros were down 7.7 percent on a reported basis, and 6 percent on a like-for-like basis, compared to 975 million euros a year ago. Similarly, EBIT declined to 71 million euros, down from 101 million euros a year ago. But the company says that “when stripping out the Stephenie Meyer phenomenon, net sales were stable in the US and in the UK” and they “anticipate that the division will resume growth and profitability” in the second […]
Archives for August 2011
Sony’s First Potter Offer Is Mild; Reader Store Will Expand Internationally
Sony has finally announced the newest iteration in their never-in-the-lead ereader line. Of more interest is the “first offer” in their collaboration with JK Rowling’s Pottermore. It’s not the blockbuster exclusive that has been rumored, but rather a voucher that lets Sony Reader purchasers get a free download of the first Harry Potter book from Pottermore. In the announcement, Sony indicates that their Reader estore will finally expand, “coming first to the UK, Germany and Australia in 2011.” The biggest claim for the new model of their ereader, finally a mainstream wi-fi model coming in October, is that it will […]
People, Etc.
Jessica Tribble has been promoted to publisher of Poisoned Pen Press. Tribble has been with the company since 2004 and replaces Robert Rosenwald, who will continue as president, while Barbara Peters will remain editor-in-chief. Melanee Winder has been named sales and marketing director of Hachette New Zealand, effective October 31. She is currently deputy group sales director at Little Brown UK. At Red Sofa Literary, Jennie Goloboy has been promoted to associate literary agent. She will represent paranormal and science fiction/fantasy, children’s middle grade, young adult and some nonfiction (history and biography). Diesel Books has secured a lease for a new […]
Profits Up Sharply On Random House On Slight Sales Decline
Bertelsmann reported sales for the first half of the year, and Random House’s results followed the pattern of other big houses in recent months: sales were basically flat (down 4 million euros) but profits rebounded significantly, up over 70 percent. Sales for the period were 787 million euros, with operating EBIT of 69 million euros. The sales slide was blamed on “unfavorable exchange-rate effects.” While sales are still below levels reached in 2007 (832 million euros) and 2006 (859 million euros), this year’s operating EBIT is the best first-half result in years. The company “benefited from a strong U.S. performance […]
eNews: Piracy Monitoring/Takedown Program For Authors & Agents; Personalized eBook Apps for Kids; and More
The Curtis Agency and E-Reads are launching a piracy monitoring and takedown program through a system developed by Muso TNT, in which authors “authorize the antipiracy service to launch search engine ‘spiders’ to crawl over the Internet and detect unauthorized files.” Once files are discovered and stored in a password-protected area, authors and agents can then authorize Muso to send batch DMCA takedown notices. EReads Founders of e-card service JibJab are entering the children’s ebook market through a new personalized iPad app line for kids called JibJab Jr. A one-book-a-month subscription to the JibJab Jr. line will cost $3.99 a […]
BN Says Nook Is A $900 Million Business, Set to Double
Barnes & Noble reported first quarter results that were mostly below analysts’ expectations, but showed strong growth in the Nook business and for the first time broke out the entire digital reading segment. The Nook segment–including content, devices and accessories–totalled $277 million for the quarter, with BN saying digital content sales quadrupled over the year. They say the Nook business comprised $880 million last year (and $123 million in 2010), and “is expected to double this year to $1.8 billion.” That news, and projections of smaller losses and much better EBITDA thanks to the Liberty Media investment sent Barnes & Noble […]