The investigation by the UK’s House of Commons into multinational companies that pay little or no income tax to the British government on considerable revenues generated from UK customers has produced at least a little something tangible. Earlier in the month Amazon broke out for the first time sales from Amazon.co.uk over the past three years. (The committee document–found via the Bookseller–suggests they thought it was provided “on a confidential basis.”) Amazon’s UK sales were £2.910 billion in 2011; £2.360 billion in 2010; and £1.865 billion in 2009. Their Luxembourg subsidiary collected and remitted £416 million in UK VAT in […]
Archives for November 2012
Harper Extends “Impulse” Brand with Teen Digital Imprint
HarperCollins will launch another digital-focused imprint, Harper Teen Impulse, publishing short fiction for teens. The new line launches December 4 with a novella by Sophie Jordan, BREATHLESSS, and a futuristic novella from Scott Westerfeld, STUPID PERFECT WORLD, both selling for $1.99. The company indicates it will publish up to 4 ebooks a month, priced from 99 cents to $2.99. Harper Children’s president and publisher Susan Katz says, “We’re seeing short-form content becoming more popular in the digital marketplace, and HarperTeen Impulse allows us to experiment with new concepts and deliver content quickly.” The name echoes Avon Impulse, another of Harper’s […]
People, Etc.
Ellen Holgate will move to Bloomsbury UK Children’s as editorial director for fiction in mid-January. She is currently senior editor at Hodder Children’s. Once again, the Obama family celebrated “small business Saturday” with a bookstore shopping trip. This time they visited One More Page Books in Arlington, VA, where the White House says President Obama bought 15 children’s books to give as gifts. (The president indicated he had prepared a shopping list that he consulted on his Blackberry while in the store.) Kensington and Chelsea became the second London borough to approve plans to demolish the Earl’s Court exhibition center […]
Scholastic Cuts Profit Forecast Sharply, Citing Multiple Factors
After riding high on movie-driven sales of The Hunger Games, Scholastic has swung the other way, warning investors of multiple weaknesses in their business. In an announcement late Tuesday, Scholastic cited “lower curriculum product sales in its Educational Technology and Services segment,” as funds move to training in advance of the Common Core standards implementation–but also blamed on “a delay in purchasing decisions due to continued uncertainty regarding the federal budget.” Their book club business has also softened, both because of now “lower than anticipated US sales of The Hunger Games trilogy” and the impact of Hurricane Sandy. As result, […]
People, Etc.
The literary director of Albert Bonniers Forlag in Sweden Jonas Axelsson has elected to step down, effective immediately. Associate publishing director of Bonnier Group’s trade publishing division Jesper Monthan will take over on aa temporary basis while a search is conducted. Axelsson has also resigned from his other responsibilities within the Bonnier Group, including leading the Bonnier Group Agency. Frank Berrios has been promoted to editor for the Random House Children’s and Golden Books licensed publishing group, where Courtney Carbone has moved up to assistant editor. The Costa Awards shortlists were announced across five categories. Booker winner Hilary Mantel is […]
News Corp. Said to “Express Interest” In Acquiring Simon & Schuster
After expressing at least theoretical interest in bidding for Penguin when that merger deal was all but finalized, News Corp. has reportedly moved to the next most likely potential target: Simon & Schuster. The WSJ, which often has a good line on parent company News Corp.’s strategy, is clear in their lead that the company simply “has expressed interest to CBS about acquiring its Simon & Schuster book business,” which is a soft starting point. To underscore that, “the people described the talks as preliminary and cautioned that a deal isn’t imminent.” But it does indicate that News Corp. remains […]