Scholastic reported fiscal second quarter results on Thursday, with sales falling $9.3 million to $601.8 million, and earnings from continuing operations declining to $1.85 a share, compared to $2.02 a year ago. Operating profit of $105.1 million was down 5 percent versus last year. The strong US dollar cost the company $17.2 million in negative foreign exchange impact, and based on those currency “headwinds” as well as a “now settled labor action in Ontario schools that resulted in a substantial drop in reading club and book fair revenues” during the back-to-school period, Scholastic reduced its full-year guidance. Fiscal 2016 sales are now projected to be […]
Archives for December 2015
Atavist Cuts Staff, Looks for “Sustainable” Path
Brooklyn-based digital publishing technology player Atavist “has laid off half its staff and is looking for ways to cut costs and stick around,” Nieman Lab reports, after failing to secure additional funding. Seven people have been laid off over the past month and another three people left in the last quarter and have not been replaced. The company last raised $2 million a little over a year ago, as the separate but related IAC-backed digital publisher Atavist Books closed. At the time, ceo Evan Ratliff told us, “Atavist itself is currently stronger than ever, and we’re excited about the growth in both […]
People
Tara Parsons will join Touchstone as editor-in-chief on January 4, reporting to Susan Moldow. Previously she was editorial director, fiction at Amazon Publishing. Moldow said in the announcement: “Tara’s range of commercial acquisitions combined with the unique experiences she has gained from working within an array of publishing models will make her a valuable and dynamic leader of the Touchstone editorial team.” Sally Kim had been editorial director at Touchstone until leaving for Putnam earlier this year. It’s the first time Touchstone has used the title editor-in-chief for a number of years. Mark Tavani will join Putnam as vp, executive […]
Kindle Unlimited Reports First Rates By Territory
Amazon announced the retroactive rate at which they will pay self-published authors for pages read in November through the Kindle Unlimited subscription program, and it is the first month for which they are using the new system of indicating different payments for each country in which KU operates. As Amazon says in their latest post, “payouts will differ per country based on local country factors such as exchange rates, customer reading behavior, and local subscription pricing. The US rate is pretty similar to the universal rate from October — at $.00492 per page, or a little under half a cent. The […]
The Last Day for the Best Discounts
As noted yesterday, today is the final day to enroll for our big two-day Digital Book World Conference (March 8 and 9), the fifth annual Launch Kids (March 7), and/or the full three-day Total Access Pass that also includes your pick of the new Mostly Marketing Masterclasses and digital workshops, before the price goes up. So put the DBW roster of events on your calendar now, and lock in the best prices before you come back to work in January. Make sure to use this registration page just for Publishers Lunch readers, providing the best discount available on individual tickets, saving you hundreds of dollars […]
Corporate: Harper Pairs with Producer; Ingram Acquires Aer.io; Hachette Buys Kero; and More
HarperCollins is trying another relationship with a video producer. This time, they have “agreed to a strategic framework” with Insurrection Media to option and develop books in sci-fi, drama, and comedy for both digital video and linear television series. They will “jointly identify key titles that are most compelling and suitable for video series and then co-develop and produce shows to be owned and distributed by Insurrection in the U.S. and overseas on a multitude of over-the-top and linear video platforms.” The first announced title for development is Debra Driza‘s Mila 2.0 trilogy, published by Katherine Tegen Books. Overlooked by most outlets is that Driza’s work was […]