Bertelsmann reported results for the first half of the year on Tuesday morning, with book publishing as one its more resilient divisions during the pandemic. Sales at Penguin Random House were down 1.4 percent, or €23 million, at 1.627 billion. Operating EBITDA was 7.9 percent lower, at €209 million, €18 million lower than a year ago. As at other publishers, a 15 percent increase in digital sales (which had been roughly 20 percent of overall sales) helped offset declines in print sales during the pandemic. Unlike other publishers, remember that PRH’s accounting practices now count the full consumer price paid […]
Archives for September 2020
International: Hachette UK Acquires Laurence King, and More
Hachette UK has extended their string of modest acquisitions in purchasing Laurence King Publishing (best known for Johanna Basford’s coloring books). King himself, who recently turned 65, will leave after a six-month term as a consultant. Hachette UK has been the distributor for LKP. In 2018, the most recently reported year, LKP had sales of £16 million, with almost no profit. The gift, trade and art books will keep the LKP name as an imprint of Orion, run by Anna Valentine. Their student and professional books will become an imprint of Quercus and the children’s publishing will be part of […]
September Picks
Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine Book Club pick for September is The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. You can read an excerpt now in our Buzz Books 2020 Fall/Winter sampler. Jenna Bush Hager’s Today Show Read With Jenna book club chose Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom. The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman makes for an unusual Pennie’s Pick at Costco. But Asha Lemmie‘s debut novel Fifty Words for Rain is the most popular pick so far: It’s the GMA selection, Amazon’s Spotlight Pick, and Barnes & Noble’s Discover book for the month. Besides the Lemmie novel, Amazon‘s featured debut […]
New Books Publishing September 1
It’s a big start to a busy month, with novels from Emma Cline, Elena Ferrant, Yaa Gyasi, Evie Wyld and more, and headline-making nonfiction on the New England Patriots and Melania Trump along with new work by Eula Biss. This week also marks the release of the first of our virtual “buzz panel” selections, Simon Stephenson’s SET MY HEART TO FIVE. As in previous weeks, our sample Bookshop and Aerbook store carousels provide easy displays of books publishing today in need of attention and support, featuring: 15 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-september-1 8 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-august-18 More new children’s and YA titles […]