News Corp. reported results for their fourth quarter and full fiscal year, ending June 30. HarperCollins had sales of $361 million, up 10 percent from $329 million a year ago and EBITDA of $33 million in the fourth quarter, up 50 percent from the $22 million reported for the same period a year ago For the full year, they recorded sales of $1.434 billion and EBITDA of $197 million. That compares to sales of $1.369 billion and EBITDA of $142 million in fiscal 2013. The company said the higher earnings benefited from “the higher contribution to profits from ebooks and […]
Archives for August 2014
Scribd Enters Digital Book Discovery Fray; Same-Day Service from BN & Google
Scribd relaunched what it dubs its “new browse experience”, the company’s try at digital book discovery to complement its existing subscription program, which now boasts 500,000 titles (with Princeton University Press, Samhain, and National Geographic among the most recently added publishers.) The browsing capability is available at Scribd’s website and in the coming weeks through its various mobile apps. Scribd vp, marketing Julie Haddon told us in an interview earlier this week that the company enlisted a “50-person team of scientists, book publishing experts, librarians, and marketers”, as well as a small editorial staff, to “work out the ideal browsing […]
People, Etc.
Lia Ronnen has been promoted to publisher at Artisan, effective September 2. She succeeds Ann Bramson, who will now acquire books across Workman’s imprints with the new title of executive director, special projects at Workman. Of Ronnen’s appointment, Bramson said in the announcement: “Lia is an amalgam of everything one could want in a publisher: editorial vision, graphic sensibility, and sales and marketing savvy. I have an extraordinary successor in place and can now explore some unorthodox concepts and formats that I have been eager to develop for a long time.” Tricia Boczkowski has been named vp, editorial director of […]
Book Sales in Indigo Q1 Grew For First Time in Almost Five Years
Canada’s dominant bookseller Indigo reported fiscal first quarter (for the period ending June 28). Sales increased 5.4 percent, to $180.8 million CA, and the net loss of $14.0 million was an improvement upon the $20.9 million lost at the same time a year ago. Indigo largely attributed the quarter’s revenue growth to the launch of American Girl specialty boutiques (with “outstanding” customer response to the first two boutique stores) and the early timing of Easter, the company also noted that book sales grew “for the first time since fiscal 2010.” Same-store sales for the quarter were up 8.3 percent at […]
People
Robin Straus and Andrew Nurnberg have jointly acquired the Wallace Literary Agency, four months after the death of Lois Wallace, who founded the agency in 1988. Jeff Hoffman, who worked for the agency for the past 18 years, will stay on staff. Nurnberg handled foreign rights for her clients for over thirty years, while Straus was a vice-president of an earlier incarnation of Wallace’s agency in the 1980s. The two agents said in an announcement: “We were great admirers of Lois’s literary taste and business acumen and we are committed to representing the distinguished list of the Wallace Literary Agency […]
Courier’s Publishing Division Declines Again
Courier reported third quarter earnings, as their publishing business continues to shrink. Sales of $8.5 million were down 4.4 percent, though the operating loss of $493,000 was a small improvement, almost half the operating loss at the same time a year ago. Sales were flat at Dover and their REA line but down at Creative Homeowner, with their REA line growing 2 percent and Dover bolstered by their Creative Haven line of adult coloring books. Operating results improved at both Dover and REA, with REA showing a profit both for the quarter and for the year to date. Companywide, sales […]