After pulling their IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at the last minute in 2018 on weak demand, Springer Nature’s owners are determined to try again, hoping that capital markets remain strong long enough for them to get to the finish line this time. Co-owners BC Partners and Holtzbrinck are reported to be working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as lead bookrunners (Morgan Stanley led the previous effort as well), “which could take place as early as May or June” according to Reuters’ sources. One of those sources insists that “leverage has come down significantly, making it a much […]
Archives for January 2020
People, Etc.
At Berkley, Jen Monroe and Kristine Swartz have each been promoted to senior editor. Tiffany Shelton has been promoted to associate editor at St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books. At Chronicle Books, Lydia Ortiz has been promoted to senior designer, children’s; Beth Steiner to production director, purchasing & vendor management; and Erin Thacker to production director, creative development. OR Books co-founder John Oakes will step down as co-publisher on May 1. He will remain on the board and continue to edit current projects. Jacob Bronstein left Apple after almost 9 years at the company, most recently as senior marketing manager for Apple Podcasts, […]
The Complete Buzz Books 2020 Spring/Summer Titles
As we previewed Thursday, our new free ebook Buzz Books 2020: Spring/Summer arrives this week packed with 44 pre-publication excerpts from major authors and exciting debuts. Our sampler is the ultimate way to prepare for Winter Institute and the spring publishing season (capturing the best part of the event even if you don’t attend — reading some of the hottest new books ahead of everyone else). For the trade editions — with publicity and marketing info, and click-throughs for full galleys, you can download through NetGalley. The consumer version is available on all the major ebookstore platforms (the “download” button here links to […]
Parneros Tells the Court His Side of the Story One More Time, with Feeling
Former Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros filed January 15 his opposition documents against Barnes & Noble’s arguably ill-advised motion for summary judgment on two of Parneros’ three claims, defamation and breach of good faith and fair dealing. To succeed with the motion, BN has to prove that there’s no issue of fact when it comes to dismissing those claims. Parneros’ declaration and opposition memo, filed with dozens of pages of internal correspondence and depositions — alas, redacted all — purport to be evidence that BN and Riggio acted in bad faith and did indeed defame him. Parneros’ declaration recounts […]
Just in Time for Winter Institute, Our New Buzz Books Spring/Summer Sampler
With the 15th annual Winter Institute kicking off next week in Baltimore, today we launch our big Buzz Books 2020 Spring/Summer sampler. Now in its tenth year, this sampler offers excerpts from 44 of the most buzzed-about books scheduled for publication this spring and summer as an exclusive, free ebook. Eleven of the featured authors are slated to appear at Winter Institute. The consumer editions are available for download now for Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple’s Apple Books, Google Play, and Kobo, among other online retailers, with click-throughs for preorders. (Also all linked at our main Buzz Books website.) Our full trade editions include marketing and […]
Pearson Preview Indicates 30 Percent Decline In Printed Textbooks, Weak Profits Ahead
Pearson released a 2019 trading update, providing a preview of what’s to come in the complete earnings results coming February 21. It’s not good. In North America, overall revenue was down 3 percent, dragged down by a 12 percent decline in the US Higher Education business. Print sales dropped an astonishing 30 percent, while digital sales showed only “modest growth.” The release notes, “This reflects rapidly changing market dynamics that are reshaping the industry, as illustrated by the fact that in 2019 we sold 3.7 million textbooks to students at US universities, compared to 7.4 million in 2016 and 21 […]