Cengage had sales of $1.88 billion in their most recent fiscal year, ending in June, but the textbook company went from income of $47 million in the previous year to a loss of $37 million. Thirty-one percent of recents come from digital products and print-and-digital bundles. Bought by Apax Partners in the overvalued days of cheap and abundant credit in 2007 for $7.75 billion, the company still carries gross debt of $5.7 billion, which costs $480 million a year in interest. CEO Ron Dunn “says it will need to refinance within 18 months,” but also indicates to the FT there […]
Archives for September 2011
People: Sevier Promoted to EIC at Dutton, Rinaldi Leaves Rodale, and More
Ben Sevier has been promoted to editor-in-chief at Dutton, effective Octboer 3. He has been there for almost five years. President and publisher Brian Tart says, “I know from both authors and agents how much of an advocate Ben is for his writers. He gets the best out of them, every time. He believes in the power of a good story and he finds innovative ways to reach the widest possible audience for each of his books. I can’t think of a better person to lead our editorial efforts than Ben Sevier.” Rodale evp and general manager of the books […]
Perseus Sees Opportunity Ahead
Perseus Books Group ceo David Steinberger issued his annual letter to employees, “reflect[ing] on a fiscal year of hard work and impressive results.” The privately-held company (which therefore does not release actual figures) “generated strong financial results” in their fiscal year, ending June 30. On the overall environment, Steinberger writes: “We continue to live and work in a time of global opportunity, technological revolutions, and economic uncertainty. The evolution and transformation of our industry in particular has been and will continue to be a significant challenge as evidenced by the recent collapse of Borders. The current economic climate is very challenging […]
Live From NY, It’s The $199 Kindle Fire and New Kindle Touch Devices
It was within a block of the West Side’s fragrant horse and carriage stables that Amazon set up tent this morning–literally with a large, air-conditioned tent on the street as a holding pen for press-conference visitors–to introduce their new devices: the Kindle Fire tablet, the new line of Kindle Touch ereaders, and an inexpensive version of its original Kindle model. Bloomberg jumped the gun by about 25 minutes quoting unnamed Amazon executives about the specs, but Wednesday’s press conference made it official: the Kindle Fire Tablet will have a 7″ full-color touchscreen and Wi-Fi, weigh 14.6 ounces, and will retail […]
eNews: Bloomsbury Reader Launches To Rescue OOP Works
As announced in May, Bloomsbury has launched their digital and POD imprint for out-of-print works, Bloomsbury Reader. Called a “digital global publisher,” their initial list of roughly 560 books focuses on authors and estates represented by their “founder partner” PFD/The Rights House, though they continue to invite the participation of other estates and agencies. Ingram has a new partnership with logistics company SBS Worldwide to provide their client publishers with greater supply chain visibility on their titles. The two companies will “also consolidate on major freight lanes and offer competitive rates on global transportation.” Kobo announced a new update to […]
People, Etc.
Hector Sierra has been promoted to general manager and svp for National Geographic’s book publishing group, responsible for overseeing business operations and global sales for all categories of National Geographic’s trade and digital books. He was chief operating officer for the division, having joined National Geographic in 2000. F+W Media group marketing director Kate Rados was one of two people honored as MinOnline’s marketers of the year. Robert Wheaton will join Random House Canada in the newly created position of vp, director, strategic business development, reporting to ceo Brad Martin. Wheaton was previously director of inventory management for Indigo Books […]