On Thursday, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported third quarter earnings for the period ending September 30, with sales of $417 million, up 25.9 percent from 2020. The company reported income of $95 million, up from a loss of ($12) million last year. They claim these are “strong” results, and the company increased their full year billings guidance for the second time, to $1.075–1.095 billion, up from $980 million–$1.02 billion. But the bar was mighty low. Two years ago sales for the same quarter were $566 million (with $48 million from the now-sold trade division). “Underpinning these growth opportunities is a large […]
Archives for November 2021
Another Record Third Quarter for Simon & Schuster
ViacomCBS reported third quarter results on Thursday morning, with publisher Simon & Schuster well exceeding last year’s third quarter, which had set a new record for revenues. This year, third quarter sales hit $321 million, up 15 percent from $279 million in 2020 (which compared to $217 million in 2019, and $240 million in 2018). Operating income grew even more, to $93 million, compared to $56 million in 2020. (“Earnings” from discontinued operations, with is “primarily” S&S, were $94 million, versus $61 million a year ago.) CEO Jonathan Karp said, “It was a stellar quarter in an outstanding year,” with […]
Ann Arbor’s Crazy Wisdom Bookstore Owners to Move On
Crazy Wisdom Bookstore in Ann Arbor announced yesterday that they will either “be selling or closing” their doors come February 15, 2022, after 40 years in business. Owners Bill Zirinsky and Ruth Schekter, who are in their 60s, said that they are “ready to look out upon a new and different horizon.” Though many independent bookstores struggled financially during the pandemic, Zirinsky and Schekter were clear that this was not the case for Crazy Wisdom. “The bookstore had a very profitable year (due to having closed the tea room at the onset of the pandemic), and that’s not a bad […]
Sourcebooks Acquires B.E.S. Publishing
Sourcebooks has acquired B.E.S. Publishing from Peterson’s Publishing, in a deal that closed November 1. The deal includes more than 800 B.E.S. titles, including adult nonfiction and children’s fiction and nonfiction. B.E.S. stands for Barron’s Educational Series; Peterson’s had purchased B.E.S. a little less than two years ago from Barron’s. The line has been distributed by Two Rivers, and accounts should continue to order ttitles through Ingram Content Group through the end of 2021. “The addition of B.E.S. adds breadth, variety, and depth to our rapidly expanding children’s and adult nonfiction catalog,” said Dominique Raccah, Sourcebooks ceo and publisher. “We […]
Bogaards to Leave Knopf, Publicity Is Centralized Across the Group
Paul Bogaards, Knopf’s longtime evp, publicity & marketing, and deputy publisher, will step down on January 1. He has been with the company for 32 years. Bogaards wrote in a press release, “My tenure there has been rewarding beyond measure. Sonny [Mehta], as most of you know, died in 2019, shortly before identifying Reagan [Arthur] as his successor. When we spoke of her appointment, he said to me, ‘Reagan is going to need your support and guidance, because this place can be tough.’ Sonny was always a master of understatement. When he was gone, I knew the mandate: keep the […]
December Indie Next List
The ABA named Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan as the No. 1 pick for December’s Indie Next List, excerpted in our Buzz Books 2021: Fall/Winter sampler.