As part of the unwinding of Britain’s Chorion, Washington, DC-based Acorn Media Group has purchased Chorion’s 64 percent interest in Agatha Christie Limited, calling it “the most important deal in the company’s history.” The Christie estate includes over 80 novels and stories, 19 plays, almost 40 TV movies, “and many more TV and feature films in development.” Acorn is “the leading distributor of British TV on home video in the US.” Chorion bought their rights to the Christie Estate in 1998 for 10 million pounds. The Christie family retains its 36 percent holding and Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson, remains […]
Archives for February 2012
Comedy Central Sets Up Imprint At Running Press
The Perseus Books Group has added to their portfolio of media relationships with the likes of Weinstein Books and The Daily Beast with a new Comedy Central Books imprint, housed with Running Press. The show South Park has published a number of books directly with Running Press in the past. The first title, set for October, is Denis Leary’s currently untitled “funny Christmas book based on a special I did for Comedy Central seven-and-a-half years ago.” (Leary has a new special airing this fall, “reminiscent of 2005’s Merry F#%$in’ Christmas.”) Leary has done two books with Viking Penguin previously. Many […]
eNews:Skoobe eBook Subscription Service in Germany; Penguin and The Economist Join Forces for Digital Shorts;
In Germany, von Holtzbrinck and Verlagsgruppe Random House are backing a new ebook subscription venture, Skoobe, where customers pay 9.99 euros a month to borrow 2 ebooks in that 30-day period (with unlimited access to all content only between now and March 1, 2013.) Publishers supplying content so far include Droemer, DVA, Fischer, Goldmann, Heyne, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Lübbe, Luchterhand and Rowohlt. The Skoobe app is available for free for iOS devices, with an Android version to come at a later date. Penguin and the Economist (both owned by Pearson) are joining forces to publish a collection of reports entitled […]
Like Others, Harlequin Sees Sales Soften and Margins Hold Up
Canada’s Torstar reported fourth-quarter and fiscal year results Wednesday, and the performance of Harlequin fits the general pattern of other publicly-reported trade publishers: sales were down a little, and operating earnings rose. This is what the digital transition looks like. For the full year, digital comprised 15.5 of revenues of $459 million CA (down 2 percent from $468 million the previous year). In the fourth quarter alone, digital accounted for 17.7 percent of worldwide sales of $118 million, down $2 million. Digital sales added $7 million in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago, while retail print sales declined […]
Bloomsbury Exits Germany, Selling Berlin Verlag to Bonnier
With no more JK Rowling books to issue in German, Bloomsbury is relinquishing their division in that country, announcing an agreement to sell Berlin Verlag to Bonnier’s German subsidiary, which owns Piper Verlag. In classic Bloomsbury fashion, the deal structure has multiple parts. Bloomsbury will receive a total of 4.4 million euros in cash–but only 2.6 million euros are for the purchase of Berlin Verlag. Piper will have a three-year license, renewable at Bloomsbury’s option, to publish the company’s trade books in Germany (worth 800,000 euros in the deal) and 1 million euros to use Bloomsbury Berlin and other related […]
People: Orion to Restructure
As part of a restructure, Orion will replace its trade and paperback divisions with Orion Fiction (housing more than half of its frontlist titles, and nearly all of its crime fiction) and Orion General (for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Phoenix, Gollancz, and Orion Children’s.) Current trade managing director Lisa Milton will run the General division, while Susan Lamb, who oversees the paperback division, will now run Orion Fiction. Deputy ceo and group publisher Malcolm Edwards explained the restructure in a statement: “Orion’s structure has served us exceptionally well for our first two decades, but we need to look to the future. […]