Bertelsmann released preliminary, topline figures for 2011, with their full report due on March 28. Sales from continuing operations nudged up 1 percent, to €15.3 billion, while operating EBIT fell roughly 5 percent, to €1.7 billion. Positive indicators included “rapidly growing e-book sales.” Toronto’s LGBTQ Glad Day Bookshop has secured a future for itself, with news that a group of local supporters have joined together to buy the store. High school teacher Michael Erickson, who led the group of buyers, says that “as individuals, none of us are rich. But collectively, there will be over 20 of us in the […]
Archives for February 2012
Indigo Sales Up Slightly As Profit Falls in Third Quarter; Company President Steps Down
For their fiscal third quarter ending December 31, Indigo reported sales from continuing operations of C$353 million, up 0.5 percent from a year ago, with net profit of C$23.7 million (down from $27 million a year ago), affected by $4 million in non-cash asset impairment charges during the quarter. Superstore comps rose 1.8 percent and smaller-format stores were up 2.5 percent, but physical book sales declined, compensated for by rises in gift, lifestyle, toys, and ereaders. Online sales rose 9.3 percent compared to a year ago, at $31.2 million. Now accounted for separately as discontinued operations, Kobo had sales for the quarter of […]
People
Katherine Furman has joined Reader’s Digest as senior editor for their trade books division, focusing on informative nonfiction, humor, inspirational stories, and other titles that align with the Reader’s Digest brand. She was previously an editor at Sterling. Cara Bedick has joined The Experiment in the newly-created position of editor; she most recently was associate editor at Gotham. Ani Chamichian has also joined the company, as sales director. Little, Brown Children’s announced the publication of the first installment in Lemony Snicket‘s new ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS series, originally expected in 2011, now set for publication on October 23, with an […]
Harper Results Are Soft In the US, Strong In the UK, As eBooks Stay At 10% Worldwide
News Corp. reported second quarter sales after the close of the market Wednesday. As in the past, the performance of HarperCollins is too modest to merit any mention in the earnings release. In the publishing segment, focused on newspapers, sales fell 9 percent and operating income dropped by 43 percent, blamed on “lower advertising revenues at the Australian newspapers and the integrated marketing services business” as well as the closure of The News of the World. In a brief statement, Harper said their best-performing units were Harper UK (publisher there of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones books) and Zondervan […]
eNews: Open Source Textbooks from Rice University; Author Solutions Adds eBook Distribution Service; Hocking’s Market Share, and More
Rice University has launched OpenStax College, which will offer free, open-source course materials for five common introductory classes in biology, astronomy, and physiology. OpenStax is funded by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the 20 Million Minds Foundation and the Maxfield Foundation, and the program hopes to capture 10 percent of the textbook market that, in turn, would save students $90 million over the next five years. Inside Higher Ed reports that “In the past, open-source materials have failed to gain traction among some professors; their accuracy could be difficult to confirm […]
People, Etc.
Julia Haav will join Yale University Press as publicist later this month. She was most recently a publicist at Europa Editions. Publishing veteran Bridget Marmion is launching a marketing consulting firm, Your Expert Nation. She has developed a national network of experts in “virtually every genre and service,” including such industry professionals as John Tewsley, Laura Chittenden, Victoria Meyer, Charlotte Abbott, Lee Stern, Greg Mowery, Jennifer Northcutt, Susan Aikens, Nancy Quinn, Jack Covert, social media consultant Susan Halligan, Sean Concannon and Sonnet Media, and mommy blogger and author Paula Balzer. She will work with strategic partner Rich Kelley (with expertise in SEO, […]