Nancy Sheppard will join Basic Books on August 13 as marketing director. Most recently, she was marketing director at St. Martin’s. Matt Ortile has joined Catapult as digital managing editor. Ortile was most recently the global publishing lead for BuzzFeed International and the founding editor of BuzzFeed Philippines. Farin Schlussel has been promoted to assistant marketing director at Avery and Tarcher Perigee. Loyola Press executive editor, trade Joe Durepos will retire at the end of October after nearly 17 years with the publisher. He said, “I’ve had the best job in the world, working with an incredibly talented team and the finest […]
Archives for August 2018
People, Etc.
Jenn Gonzalez has been promoted to executive vice president, director of sales at Macmillan, taking over as longtime president of sales Alison Lazarus moves to Hachette Book Group. Gonzalez joined Macmillan in 2012 as vp of children’s sales and most recently served as svp, trade sales. Macmillan president Don Weisberg writes: “Jenn has a great passion for books, deft business sensibilities, and a superb rapport with colleagues, customers, and authors. The growth in children’s books and merchandise sales have been spectacular. I am confident that Jenn, with the terrific support of her first-rate team, is the right person to lead not only our […]
Simon & Schuster Continues to Drive Earnings Higher
CBS reported second quarter results on Thursday afternoon, with sales at Simon & Schuster up $1 million to $207 million, as operating income continued its steady, long-term improvement, at $31 million, up $2 million from a year ago, “reflecting the higher revenues and lower production costs.” Embattled ceo Leslie Moonves surprised some by leading the company’s investor call as usual, and he said Simon & Schuster’s “terrific line-up of bestselling authors continues to deliver hits.” (The moderator said at the beginning of the call that “in light of pending litigation” and “on advice of counsel” the discussion would be limited […]
Softer Second Quarter Leaves Trade Unit Sales Close to Flat
NPD Bookscan issued a report on sales trends for the first half of the year, with total unit sales running just about flat. Print sales comprised 317 million units for the first half of the year, compared to 311 million in 2017 — but ebook units reported by publishers through their PubTrack Digital service were down by 3 million in the first quarter, at 41 million units. If that trend continues when the second quarter is tabulated, total measured unit sales would be flat. Print books had gained in the first quarter (helped by Fire and Fury giving the year […]
Even Trade Sales Fell As HMH Reports A Down Quarter
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported sales of $376 million for the second quarter of 2018, down $17 million. Both the operating loss of $9 million and the net loss of $23 million show improvement from a year ago — when they took a big restructuring charge — and was helped by the corporate tax cut. But adjusted EBITDA of $62 million was $11 million lower than a year ago, on the decline in sales. The company reaffirmed its guidance for the year and ceo Jack Lynch said in the announcement, “Despite a trough year in the market, HMH is performing well […]
People, Etc.
Lynn Kovach has been promoted to vice president, director of national accounts, Random House Adult, newly overseeing sales for the division and PRH Audio to Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble. Stephen Hull will join the University of New Mexico Press as director on September 17, also serving as a professor of practice in publishing for UNM’s College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences. Previously he spent nine years at Dartmouth College as editor and publisher at the University Press of New England. Zoe Nelson will join Janklow & Nesbit UK in September as rights director, after eight years at Rogers, Coleridge and […]