The Selected Poems of Donald Hall is the No. 1 Indie Next choice for December. The rest of the list includes: A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding, by Jackie Copleton A Wild Swan: And Other Tales, by Michael Cunningham, Yuko Shimizu (Illus.) Boys in the Trees, by Carly Simon The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, by Mitch Albom Year of the Goose, by Carly J. Hallman Time of Departure, by Douglas Schofield What She Knew, by Gilly Macmillan Oh the Moon: Stories From the Tortured Mind of Charlyne Yi, by Charlyne Yi Tightrope, by Simon Mawer Paradise City, by Elizabeth Day His […]
Archives for November 2015
Bertlesmann Confirms $230 Million Investment in HotChalk
As anticipated since September, Bertelsmann is spending $230 million to buy a minority stake in HotChalk, a technology company that powers online degree programs. Along with last month’s RediLearning deal, their stake in Alliant University and the big deal about a year ago for Relias Learning, Bertelsmann has spent in the neighborhood of $1 billion for US-based education and edtech companies over the past year.
And We’re Back
For some of you, this may be your first email from us in a week or so. Last week a number of gateways erroneously blocked our mail. Because of a glitch at our email service provider, it look longer than usual to reenable those bounced addresses for sending. With luck they have fixed the glitch going forward, and we appreciate your patience while we yelled at them. Please remember that you can always view our news online via lunch.publishersmarketplace.com. But also, many corporate gateways “whitelist” our mail to prevent situations like this. If you were blocked, please refer your IT people […]
People
Millicent Bennett will join Grand Central as executive editor on November 30. Previously she was a senior editor at Simon & Schuster’s adult trade imprint. Penguin Random House Asia Pacific ceo Gabrielle Coyne is leaving, effective immediately after more than 25 years with the company, in what Australia’s The Age calls, “a move that has taken authors and fellow publishers by surprise.” Succeeding her is Julie Burland, previously director, children’s division, Random House Australia and business development, Random House Australia. Separately, Margie Seale has been named non-executive chairman for Penguin Random House Australia and New Zealand. As a result of the […]
Another Soft Quarter for Harper As Profits Are Hit, Even with WATCHMAN
HarperCollins reported sales for their fiscal first quarter, ending September 30. Total revenues rose $3 million, or 1 percent to $406 million for the quarter, while EBITDA dropped 24 percent to $42 million (compared to $55 million a year ago). But “adjusted” revenues, setting aside the addition of Harlequin (which was acquired during the third quarter in 2014) fell by $7 million, and adjusted EBITDA declined $20 million, to $40 million. While the Harlequin acquisition has gone well for the company, the core HarperCollins sales have declined (or been flat) the last four straight quarters. And the company did get […]
HMH Stumbles On Soft Education Market
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported a difficult third quarter and reduced their expectations for the full year. Sales were up $25 million to $576 million for the quarter — but that include $82 million from the recently-acquired EdTech business they bought from Scholastic. Without that addition, sales would have been down $58 million. Operating income fell $13.5 million to $102.6 million. “In light of a softer open territory market and smaller supplemental and residual market,” the company reduced its guidance for the full year, and the stock is down more than 7 percent this morning. To appease investors, they authorized another […]