As part of an organizational readjustment at Perseus, all three distribution – Consortium, Perseus Distribution and PGW – and their respective leaders Julie Schaper, Sabrina McCarthy and Susan Reich, will now report directly to coo Joe Mangan. In addition, the sales department, headed by Matty Goldberg, will now report directly to cfo Charles Gallagher, as will the supply chain division led by Greg Anastas. Chelsea Green is celebrating their first year as an employee-owned enterprise with a $2,500 cash bonus to employees. President and publisher Margo Baldwin quips, “If Random House can give all their employees a $5000 bonus for 50 Shades […]
Archives for December 2012
Scholastic to Take Charge Against “Active” Staff Reductions
In yesterday’s conference call with investors following their disappointing second quarter results, Scholastic explained further some of their planned cost-cutting measures. They “have implemented a hiring freeze and are actively reducing staff levels in some areas, such as Book Clubs.” As a result, the company expects to take a “charge of approximately $10 million to $15 million in the second half of the year related to this cost-reduction initiative.” They also will not pay management bonuses for the current fiscal year.
Reidy Writes S&S On Track for “Strong Results”
Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy sent out her year-end letter to staff Thursday, writing that the company is “projected to deliver strong full-year financial results” with two weeks to go in 2012.” Though the retail marketplace “was more complex than ever,” Reidy said S&S “adeptly navigated these complexities while managing to pursue every possible opportunity to maximize sales.” Reidy said recent reorganizations of sales & marketing and editorial imprints helped put “greater emphasis and increased resources, at both the imprint and company-wide level, on digital sales and our efforts to reach consumers via digital means,” and produced a “sharpened […]
Overseas Regulatory Filing Reveals New Details on Proposed Penguin Random House Merger
The proposed Penguin Random House merger is subject to review and approval by regulatory agencies in several countries — including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and China — which is one which is why the deal is not expected to close at least until the second half of 2013. Papers were filed with New Zealand’s Commerce Commission on December 19 and made public (with some redactions), providing a few more tidbits of interest. Should the deal be approved, Penguin Random House would actually “operate through two entities” rather than just one: a Delaware corporation “that will own Bertelsmann […]
A Spin Through My Favorite Books of the Year
Yes I know, another favorite books of 2012 list. And truth be told, many of those on mine mirror our consensus “Best of the Best” tabulation. To save some time and space, I’d like to take a cue from the game show Wheel of Fortune and the beginning of every final round since 1988: giving contestants the six most commonly picked letters — R,S,T,L,N,E — so that they can choose six additional ones before guessing the missing vowels and consonants: R: BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS, Katherine Boo S: BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel T: GONE GIRL, Gillian Flynn L: […]
Holiday Nook Promotion Includes Free eBook–In Stores Only
Barnes & Noble and Nook have a one-free ebook with purchase promotion that takes modest advantage of some of the discounting freedom available to retailers under Agency Lite (though a number of the titles on offer are from publishers who sell ebooks wholesale anyway). The program focuses on selling ebooks from BN stores–the only place the offer is valid–and giving ebooks as gifts. The idea is that you buy one of the designated 20 ebooks for yourself, and then you provide an email address (or get a gift receipt with a code) to send another of those 20 titles to […]