Pearson reported full-year results for 2017 on Friday morning. The most significant news was official confirmation that, as the company suggested last May, they will indeed sell off their US K-12 courseware publishing business. They are “in discussions with potential buyers regarding a disposal of the business.” That will be the last big step in the company’s strategy that if they sell enough of their disparate parts, what’s left behind will finally, a few years down the road, perform well. The new euphemism for this is “simplification,” which they say will make them a “leaner and more agile business.” At Penguin […]
Archives for February 2018
PM Updates: Expanded Children’s Categories, and More
As longtime members know, we’re always working on site refinements. We wanted to update you on a few things that we have rolled in over recent weeks: – By request, the children’s deal categories have been expanded, so our young adult and middle grade sections now both all you to distinguish between works of fiction and nonfiction. – Also in Dealmakers, all of the “categories” counts are now live hyperlinks instead of static listings. Just click to see a presentation of all the dealmaker’s transaction in any particular category. – Finally, in site administration matters, we are revamping our password […]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Finishes with Some Improvement, As Trade Remains Strong
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ended a rough year with signs of improvement, as fourth quarter sales of $261 million were up $19 million from a year ago, with positive EBITDA of $5 million, compared to $(19) million a year ago. As was the case all year, the small trade division was the big bright spot for the company: Fourth quarter trade sales of $55 million were up $5 million. For the full year, trade sales of $184.5 million were up $19 million from a year ago, and adjusted EBITDA of $16 million was up considerably compared to $9.8 million a year […]
Daniel Handler Addresses Allegations Of Inappropriate Remarks
A Series of Unfortunate Events author Daniel Handler addressed numerous recent accusations that he has made inappropriate sexual comments to women colleagues. Handler posted a comment on YA author Gwenda Bond’s blog, responding to a recent post about sexual misconduct allegations in children’s literature. (After Handler had noted his agreement with Bond’s online petition asking industry conferences and publishers to impose stricter anti-harassment policies on February 9, at least four named individuals within the same comment thread then made accusations against Handler for making inappropriate sexual remarks to women, and children, in professional settings.) In his response, he wrote: “It’s come to […]
People, Etc.
At Andrews McMeel, Patty Rice has been promoted to executive editor; Julie Phillips to executive design director; Ben Accardi to senior editor for calendars; and Melissa Rhodes to associate editor. Lucas Wetzel moves over to the book group as editor, from AMU’s syndication division. Ashleigh Gardner has been promoted to deputy general manager for Wattpad Studios, publishing. Carrie Pestritto has joined Laura Dail Literary Agency as an agent. Previously she was an agent at Prospect Agency. At Portfolio/Sentinel, Merry Sun has been promoted to associate editor, Vivian Roberson has been promoted to assistant editor, and Katherine Valentino has been promoted to […]
People, Etc.
Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi has joined the board of Ingram Industries, the privately-held owner of businesses including Ingram Content Group. Currently non-executive chairman of Elsevier, Chi had worked at Ingram Micro as a director and later vp and general manager, Asia Pacific, and had served as chief operating offcer at Ingram Book Group and co-founder and chairman of Lightning Source. Shaughnessy Miller has joined Random House Children’s as school & library marketing coordinator. She previously worked in marketing and communications roles at Bloomsbury and Abrams. Trevor Dolby has joined Toby Mundy Associates as associate agent, focusing on nonfiction. He was the founding publisher of […]