Wednesday’s virtual AAP annual meeting offered some more pointed remarks than usual, as the publishing industry finds itself performing well financially, while facing a variety of new challenges from government, big tech, idealists and even itself. Most notably, Senator Amy Klobuchar, accepting the organization’s Award for Distinguished Public Service in a taped message, made clear that her focus on “taking on monopoly power” is not limited to big tech alone. “As you all know, there are serious concerns about consolidation in the publishing industry, due to a series of mergers and acquisitions that combine major publishing houses,” she said. “This […]
Archives for June 2021
Desmond Elliott Prize Shortlist
Bloomsbury Acquires Head of Zeus for £8.45 Million, As Sales Rose 14 Percent for the Year
Bloomsbury announced the acquisition of Head of Zeus, founded nine years ago by Anthony Cheetham, for £8.45 million. They paid £5.5 million in cash, with another £1.1 million payable post completion, “subject to working capital and other considerations,” and up to £0.75 million in deferred, contingent consideration. They also paid off loans of £1.1 million. In 2020, Head of Zeus had sales of £8.6 million and profit before tax of £0.3 million. Head of Zeus will operate as an independent imprint in Bloomsbury’s consumer division. Bloomsbury ceo Nigel Newton says in the announcement, “Bloomsbury will be able to provide the […]
Indigo Finishes a Tough Year with Signs of Improvement
On Tuesday, Indigo announced results for the fourth quarter ended April 3, 2021, with sales of CA$199 million, up from $178.1 million last year. The net loss for the quarter was $(39.5) million, compared to a big loss of $(171.3) million last year, when they took significant impairment charges. For the full 53-week year, sales were $905 million — “normalized” at $889 million over 52 weeks — down by 5.5 percent overall (and 7.1 percent on a normalized basis) from $958 million last year, in a year disrupted by COVID-related store closures. Two years ago, sales had reached $1.047 billion. […]
People, Etc.
Janet Hill Talbert will join Nelson Books as executive editor, starting June 14. She was most recently senior editor at Guideposts Books and Inspirational Media. Anna Cooperberg has joined Hay House as editor, with a focus on metaphysical topics. Previously, she was assistant editor at Workman Publishing. Jess Zimmerman will join Quirk Books as editor on July 6. She was previously editor in chief at Electric Literature. At Harlequin Trade Publishing, Justine Sha has been promoted to senior publicist, and Lia Ferrone has been promoted to publicist. At Books Forward, Elysse Wagner has joined as a campaign strategist; she was […]
People, Etc.
Nate Lanman has been promoted to associate editor at William Morrow. Mia Council has been promoted to associate editor at Penguin Press. Awards The London Book Fair announced seven recipients of its International Excellence Awards. Winners included Findaway Voices in the US won the AudioBook Publisher of the Year Award, while Hachette UK won the Inclusivity in Publishing Award. The Rights Professional Award went to Nora Mercurio at Suhrkamp in Germany.