After a weak August report, trade book sales as monitored by the AAP across approximately 1,200 publishers rebounded in September. With $665 million in net shipments for the month, up $45.5 million (or more than 7 percent), the gains all came from adult books, as children’s and YA titles were just below flat. As already established by full-year 2015 unit sales figures from Nielsen Bookscan, adult trade paperbacks showed the greatest strength again in September, up $33 million at $138 million in total. All adult publishing categories registered some gains — including hardcovers, up $8.6 million to $188.6 million — […]
Archives for January 2016
Apple Gains, Modestly, As “Services” Are Explained More
In closely-watched first quarter 2016 results that had many expecting Apple to stumble, the company reported sales and earnings slightly ahead of the same period a year ago, barely setting new records. Sales for the quarter ending December 26 were $75.9 billion (up $1.3 billion) and net income was $18.4 billion (up $400 million), or $3.28 per diluted share. But projections for the second quarter do forecast a decline in sales; the company expects revenues of between $50 billion and $53 billion, compared to $58 billion in second quarter 2015 (and below analysts’ previous forecasts of $55 billion). As a […]
People, Etc.: WI to Minneapolis, and More
The ABA’s Winter Institute will double down on the winter part next year, moving to Minneapolis for the 12th annual gathering, convening Friday, January 27 through Monday, January 30, 2017. The overall Costa Book of the Year award was given to The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge, only the second children’s book to win the overall prize (Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass was the first). Amulet is due to publish the US edition in May. The Target Club Pick for February is The Autumn Balloon by Kenny Porpora (which publishes February 3). People At Hachette Book Group, Anthony Goff has been promoted to svp, content development and […]
Buzz Books Spring/Summer Preview: Nonfiction
Our final excerpt from Sarah Weinman’s extensive preview of forthcoming spring and summer titles focuses on nonfiction. You can start reading many of the highlighted titles — noted with an asterisk — right now in Buzz Books 2016: Spring/Summer. Collect the trade editions from NetGalley or Edelweiss, or get the consumer editions from your ebookstore of choice. (And please note: because we prepare this preview many months in advance, titles, content, and publication dates are all subject to change.) NONFICTION Start your conversations in the spring and summer with economist Thomas Piketty’s new book; a treatise on the Internet by […]
People, Etc.
Bertelsmann’s supervisory board has renewed Thomas Rabe‘s contract as ceo for another 5 years. He took the top job four years ago, after serving as cfo. The company has also hired Bernd Hirsch as chief financial officer, starting on April 1. Hirsch, who most recently was cfo at global supplier of fragrances and flavorings Symrise, will join the Bertelsmann Group Management Committee as well. At Rowman & Littlefield, Oliver Gadsby has been promoted to the newly created role of president of their Academic and Professional Division. Tyndale House president Mark Taylor was made ceo and chairman of the board, following the retirement last December of Charles […]
Scholastic Responds to Criticism on Book Recall; CEO Determined It Didn’t Meet Their Standards
Scholastic issued another press release on Monday regarding the withdrawn picture book A Birthday Cake for George Washington, responding to criticism from PEN America and the National Coalition Against Censorship calling the move “a shocking and unprecedented case of self-censorship.” Scholastic insists it was not self-censoring, and removed the book “because it did not meet the standards which support our publishing mission.” The new statement attributes the decision to ceo Richard Robinson, who “determined that the book should be withdrawn because the book did not meet Scholastic’s standards for appropriate presentation of complex subject matter in a picture book directed […]