Self-publishing platform FastPencil has been acquired by printer and publisher Courier. The news was announced after the close of the market on Tuesday, and just ahead of Courier reporting second quarter earnings on Wednesday morning. The terms were not disclosed for now, but for Courier — with roughly $260 million in annual sales — it’s likely that the price would be considered material and will be disclosed in due time. FastPencil is a self-publishing company and provider of software tools to enable self-publishing–and recently worked in partnership with Nook on their new set of Nook Press content creation, collaboration and […]
Archives for April 2013
Learn, and Save
This is our final reminder that after today, the early enrollment savings on our big Publishers Launch BEA conference on Wednesday, May 29 expire and tickets go to full price. The event features a timely and strategic focus on the big issues that matters most right now and going forward: Scale and Consolidation. Top executives from Random House, Hachette Book Group and F+W Media will describe how they are deploying scalable solutions to distribution, publishing systems and e-commerce. Former Macmillan president and now private equity senior advisor Brian Napack will frame how scale has become more important than ever, and provide […]
People, Etc.
Michael Cairns is joining Publishing Technology as chief operating officer of their online solutions division, replacing Louise Russell. His responsibilities include their pub2web hosting platform and the ingentaconnect portal. Most recently Cairns has been a consultant and served as chief revenue office for SharedBook, focused on their Academic Pub platform. Greenhouse Literary Agency has hired Polly Nolan head up the UK side of their business representing children’s and YA authors. Currently associate publishing director, fiction, at Macmillan UK Children’s, she will start her new job on June 3. Amber Morley has joined Chronicle Books as marketing coordinator for their children’s division. […]
Imprints: Morrow’s Digital Mystery Imprint Witness Launches in October; Monthly Digital Royalties Start In August
The digital-first mystery and thriller imprint that William Morrow first announced when they hired executive editor Dan Mallory last August will formally launch in October under the name Witness. The first 10 titles releasing that month are largely from UK authors including Stephen Booth, Frances Fyfield, Emlyn Rees, and Rory Clements. (Mallory was at Little Brown UK’s Sphere before moving to Harper, where he launched the UK digital-first line The Mystery Vault.) Witness will also release Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot short stories as digital singles, and has acquired more than 100 titles. Witness is considered part of Morrow and Harper’s broader Impulse […]
McGraw-Hill’s Final Report on Education
McGraw-Hill reported first quarter 2013 earnings, following the sale of their education business for $2.4 billion on March 22. The education results are covered only briefly, as a discontinued operation. They booked a net gain of $612 million on the sale of the business, and reported net income for the quarter of $582 million (reflecting an operating loss of $30 million during the period for education). McGraw-Hill also recorded separately costs of $44 million–half cash, and half non-cash charges–for professional fees and other one-time costs related to the separate of the education unit. Release
Macmillan Finalizes State & Consumer Settlement, Will Pay $26 Million
State and consumer class action attorneys filed notice last week that they have finalized their settlement with Macmillan, first announced in January. The publisher will not only pay out $20 million to settle the suits, as planned, but will also pay $3 million to cover litigation and “investigation” costs; $2.475 million for plaintiff’s attorney fees; and $1,000 for each of the named class action plaintiffs as a “service award”, for a total of $26.25 million. Macmillan is also formally excluded from the June 3 trial, which Judge Cote ruled separately that Penguin must participate in, despite the publisher asking for […]