Chairman of Penguin Random House UK’s distribution services Brian Davies will leave the company at the end of September after more than 22 years with the company. He will also step down from the PRH executive board. In a statement PRH International ceo Ian Hudson said: “Brian has been a valued colleague and so many of us across the globe have benefited from his insight and experience. He is an absolute true publishing all-rounder and has been a significant contributor to both our past and current achievements.” Hachette Book Group announced a number of promotions in its sales department. Rich […]
Archives for May 2015
Kobo Extends ABA Partnership With eRead Local Program
Kobo is adding a new component to its existing partnership with the American Booksellers Association with the impending launch of eRead Local, set to launch later this summer (the exact timing is still TBA.) Participating ABA members will receive $5 USD per new Kobo customer acquired, and each new customer creating a Kobo account through an affiliate ABA member will receive a $5 USD credit for use toward their first purchase of a Kobo eBook. ABA members who acquire 100 new customers will be entered for a chance to win an in-store event with a bestselling author, and those who […]
Indigo Sales Improve Throughout Q4 and Full Year
Canada’s dominant bookseller Indigo reported fiscal fourth quarter sales (for the period ending March 28, 2015). Sales nudged up marginally, at $186.2 million CA, while the net loss of $13.9 million was slightly lower than the net loss of $14.4 million a year ago. The revenue growth was “partly offset by a lower tax recovery and higher head office costs compared to the same period last year.” For the full fiscal year, sales of $895.4 million were up 3 percent (or $27 million.) Adjusted EBITDA grew to $20.5 million from just $100,000 in 2015. On a continuing operations basis, that […]
BEA: Executives Talk Digital Integration at IDPF
A trio of executives took the stage at IDPF Wednesday morning to discuss the many ways in which digital initiatives have affected their work. Macmillan Higher Education & New Ventures ceo Ken Michaels spoke first about the STEM customer: “Reading today is about engaging, doing, interacting on different channels, in bits and its entirety.” With increasing anxiety about being away from one’s smartphone, Michaels said, mobility must be present in all layers, in real-time, in the cloud. “We have an opportunity to improve learning opportunities for students. It’s a moral obligation that all of us in this room carry as […]
People, Etc.; Kuyper Named New BISG Executive Director
The Book Industry Study Group has appointed Mark Kuyper, currently president and chief executive officer of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, as its newest executive director. Kuyper, who succeeds Len Vlahos, will start at BISG on June 15. “We were pleased to find an association veteran from within our industry with a long history of success,” said BISG chair Tara Catogge, who headed the search committee, in the announcement. “Mark has extensive strategic planning experience mixed with both an easy way and a commanding presence that members will welcome. His strong vision and guiding hand is exactly what BISG needs […]
Corporate: Bertelsmann Sets Up Penguin Verlag in Germany; Frankfurt Book Fair Takes Minority Stake in IPR License
Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Random House will launch a new imprint, Penguin Verlag, sometime in 2016, the Bookseller reports. The imprint, to be run by Random House Germany publisher and managing director Thomas Rathnow, will publish both fiction and non-fiction, original trade and mass-market paperback editions as well as paperback reprints of books that have previously been published in hardback by various German Random House imprints (including Jonas Jonasson’s bestseller The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden.) The idea is that Penguin Verlag will “publish brands” and that Penguin, according to Rathnow, represents “the convergence of high quality and popular commercial […]