Lagardere Publishing reported fourth quarter and full-year sales results on Thursday (and, in the European tradition, will not report earnings and complete 2017 details until March). Acquisitions lifted the group just above previous results, rebounding from a soft third quarter, with fourth quarter sales of €624 million (up €5 million), and full year sales of €2.289 billion (up €25 million). Acquisitions added €7 million in the fourth quarter, and €33 million in the full year, meaning performance was down slightly without those additions. The company blames that on the weak British pound — and in the year to come the weaker US dollar will […]
Archives for February 2018
People, Etc.
Joy de Menil joins Harvard University Press in the newly created position of executive editor and director of Belknap Publishing, where she “will oversee the rebranding of the prestigious imprint, with an eye to widening awareness of its titles,” working from Washington, DC. She was most recently an executive editor at Viking. At Hachette Books, Paul Whitlatch has been promoted to executive editor. Mary Gaule has been promoted to assistant editor for Harper and Harper Perennial. At Del Rey, Sarah Peed has been promoted to editor. Michele Bidelspach is joining Harlequin as executive editor for Graydon House and HQN, starting February 26. Previously she […]
Indigo Revenues Rise In Third Quarter, As Books Comprise Less Than Half of Sales
Canadian retailer Indigo continued to post good results, once again driven by “double-digit growth growth in all areas of the general merchandise business, with exceptional growth in the toy and lifestyle categories.” Sales in their fiscal third quarter ending December 30 rose $33 million, or 8.2 percent, to $433.3 million (CA), a record high quarter, with adjusted EBITDA of 62.5 million, a $6 million increase from the same period last year. Notably, in the holiday quarter they crossed an important threshold and books now comprise less than half of the company’s sales: They accounted for 49.1 percent of sales, down […]
Flatiron Moves Up Release of Comey Memoir
With the FBI “under intense scrutiny,” Flatiron Books announced that they are moving up the publication date of James Comey’s A HIGHER LOYALTY by two weeks, to April 17. The publisher said “that there was demand for the former FBI director to be heard amid an ‘urgent conversation’ about the bureau” as it is undermined by President Trump and some of his supporters. Separately, Stephen King announced the publication of a 144-page novella will October 30, ELEVATION. Scribner lists a hardcover price of $19.99
AAP Shows Business Flat After Three Quarters of 2017, But Up From the Original Picture In 2016
The AAP released monthly StatShot data for September, and in turn the first three quarters of the year, showing a business that was between flat and down somewhat — unless you compare it to how we thought the industry was doing a year ago, in which case there is some improvement. As we explained at the halfway mark, the problem is that the AAP has significantly revised upwards their final counts for the 2016 data. That makes it very hard to talk about comparisons with any confidence. What the current report shows is net trade sales for the first three […]
People, Etc.
Eric Henney will join Basic Books as editor, starting February 20. Most recently he was commissioning editor at Princeton University Press. Pronoy Sarkar has been promoted to associate editor at Picador. Among the St. Martin’s promotions announced yesterday, we overlooked that Anne Marie Tallberg moved up to vp, publishing director of St. Martin’s Paperbacks and Griffin, reporting to Jen Enderlin. At Bonnier’s Igloo Books, Bonnie Hunter has been hired as joint vp for the US business, running that unit along with Jeremy Nurnberg, who is promoted to joint vp. Hunter was director of sales at Parragon Books in the US. Additionally, Darren Witherall […]