Thanks to those who have been writing in with enjoyment of our StatsFest, and apologies to those who are overwhelmed (we’re trying to make this as straight forward as possible), but we soldier on. Today’s installment is brief, but important, as we knit together numbers across trade — and this will prove important ground work for the following piece, which tries to estimate what authors “make” from traditionally-published books. So now we fold together digital and print data to provide a consolidated view of what the full trade publishing market looks like (which also lets us put in context the […]
Archives for June 2017
Corporate: Baldini & Castoldi Sold, New Library Digital Content Apps, and More
In Italy, former head of Bompiani Elisabetta Sgarbi’s publishing company The Ship of Theseus, which launched in early 2016, has acquired the renewed version of Baldini & Castoldi. (They bought 95 percent; Filippo Vannuccini retains a 5 percent share.) The publisher says the purchase and recapitalization of Baldini & Castoldi was down “just with [its] own resources” and “without any bank loans.” The Ship of Theseus was started with what Sgarbi said was “five to six million” euros of investment, some of which came from authors, including the late Umberto Eco. Michele Dalai leaves Baldini & Castoldi following the sale. Sgarbi, who serves as president of Baldini […]
Sales Continue Falling at Barnes & Noble, But Earnings Improve
Barnes & Noble continued to suffer from declining sales in their fourth quarter, ending April 29, but a reduced loss in the period and improved earnings for the fiscal year gave investors some confidence. After closing Wednesday near an all-time low of $6.50 a share, investors were relieved by the improvement in profits and stabilization at the company, sending the stock back up by roughly 7 percent in the first hour of trading, returning to around $7 a share. Sales for the quarter were $821 million, down 6.3 percent both overall and on a same-store basis. Online sales nudged up […]
Rodale to Explore Sale
Further to our theory that in today’s climate publishing and media companies are either buyers or sellers, privately-held Rodale indicated in a press release that the board is exploring the company’s future and may sell part or all of the enterprise. They have retained Allen & Company to advise them (though Allen’s principal job is find buyers). The release says the board has “initiated a process to explore a range of potential strategic alternatives to best position its industry-leading properties for the future. The company noted that strategic alternatives may include, but are not limited to, the sale of the […]
Roy’s Novel Tops Amazon’s 20 Best Books of the Year So Far
Amazon issued their list of the 20 best books of 2017 so far on Wednesday afternoon, along with a package of selections across 12 categories. (Our preview advice was correct on Roy, Saunders, Hamid, Gay, and Grann, and though Tinti did not make Amazon’s top picks). Their top 20 (including 3 asterisked titles, featured in our Buzz Books samplers) are: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by Arundhati Roy Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann Beartown, by Fredrik Backman Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid Priestdaddy, by Patricia Lockwood You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, by Sherman Alexie […]
Consumer Deadline — and A Pot of Leftover Money — Looms At Expiration of Apple Settlement Credits
The big Apple-funded pool of up to $400 million in consumer credits as a result of the ebook settlement agreement with the consumer class and state attorneys general began distribution about a year ago — which means that any unused or unclaimed credits will expire at the end of the day on June 24. Many retailers (and media outlets) are providing one last round of notification to customers to “use it or lose it.” But the really interesting question is what will happen next. Unclaimed funds will remain after the deadline expires, and given the size of the original settlement, […]