Scholastic Trade has hired Hannah Babcock as rights and co-edition manager (she was at Abrams), and Carolyn Seyster has joined Klutz as senior product/toy designer (she was at Viacom/Nickelodeon). In promotions in the trade division: Lauren Donovan is now senior director of publicity; Elisabeth Ferrari moves up to senior publicist; Taylan Salvati becomes publicist; and Jordana Kulak was promoted to publicity coordinator. Carmen Alvarez and Shara Zaval were both promoted to senior marketing manage. At Catapult, Gabrielle Bellot has joined as head instructor of the writing program. Stella Cabot Wilson has been promoted to writing programs coordinator. Leah Pennywark will joined […]
Archives for August 2019
HMH Announces Decent Sales and Increased Billings, But Bigger Loss
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported Q2 earnings, with net sales of $389 million, up from $357 million last quarter. “Billings” increased more dramatically, reflecting orders for their new core programs, at $489 million, up from $371 million a year ago, a new record for the company. As a result, the company increased its billings guidance modestly, with a new range of $1.53 billion to $1.61 billion. Sales at the HMH Books & Media trade division rose $3 million in the quarter, to $39.1 million. Most of the gain, $2 million, was licensing income from the animated series Carmen Sandiego on Netflix […]
LSC Closes Plant in Torrance, Says More to Come
Troubled printer LSC Communications announced second quarter results on Thursday morning, with net sales of $869 million, down 7.8 percent from $943 million in the same period last year. As expected, they had a net loss of $24 million, which included after-tax charges of $26 million, “primarily due to the impairment of intangible assets in the magazines, catalogs and logistics segment and other restructuring costs.” With the planned Quad exit door slammed shut, ceo Thomas J. Quinlan III is now proceeding with a two-part plan to improve margins and free cash flow, and lower debt: First, using consultants to poll […]
Welcoming Daunt to Barnes & Noble and The American Press
Both the WSJ and the NYT welcome new Barnes & Noble ceo James Daunt with profile pieces: The Journal’s article is shorter, but fact-based, while the Times’s piece is romantic and features various errors and misunderstandings. The WSJ has no trouble stating Waterstones’ fiscal 2018 results plainly: “An underlying profit of £16.32 million across its 278 shops,” on sales of £385.7 million — with both profit and sales down slightly from the prior year. The NYT relies on Daunt’s version, without checking the actual filings in Companies House: “The privately held Waterstones returned to profitability in 2015, Mr. Daunt said” […]
Krueger’s This Tender Land Tops September Indie Next List
The ABA named This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger as its No. 1 Indie Next pick for September. Also on the list are David Koepp’s Cold Storage, Soren Sveistrup’s The Chestnut Man, Meg Waite Clayton’s The Last Train to London, and Alex North’s The Whisper Man, all excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 samplers. The rest of the picks: Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir The Long Call, by Ann Cleeves The Dearly Beloved, by Cara Wall The Beekeeper of Aleppo, by Christy Lefteri The Secrets We Kept, by Lara Prescott Axiomatic, by Maria Tumarkin […]
People, Etc.
Julie Buntin has been promoted to editor-at-large at Catapult. Alexandra Primiani has joined Avid Reader Press as publicity manager. Most recently, she worked at Melville House. Aurora Bell has joined the University of South Carolina Press as acquisitions editor, regional books and other titles. She was previously associate editor at Countryman Press. Sam Morgan has joined the Lotts Agency as a literary agent. Previously at Foundry Literary + Media, he brings his roster of clients with him, and will specialize in adult fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Molly Young has joined New York magazine and Vulture as literary critic. She was previously […]