Atria is launching a new imprint called Primero Sueño Press that will publish Latinx/Latine/Hispanic authors in English and Spanish. Michelle Herrera Mulligan, who has been promoted to vice president and associate publisher at Atria, will lead the imprint. The publisher writes in a release, “Named after iconic feminist Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s landmark poem celebrating the soul’s search for absolute knowledge, Primero Sueño Press will serve English and Spanish speakers seeking identity, culture, inspiration, entertainment, wellness, and personal development. The imprint will publish fiction and nonfiction with universal appeal that honors and plays with genre.” Yezanira Venecia has […]
Archives for February 2024
Lagardere Has An “Offensive Strategy” To Cut Costs
Further to yesterday’s full-year earnings report, in a call with investors, executives at Lagardere explained that the company plans to cut costs in the publishing division, including halting its ambitious distribution revamp in France and rethinking title count, and hopes to grow through acquisitions, organic growth, and price increases. The company has decided to abandon its Polaris distribution and logistics program, which it began developing in 2021 for distribution in France, because “after two to three years of design and maturing the project we realized that it was probably too big and too expensive for what we needed,” Hachette Livre […]
Barnes & Noble National Book Club Pick
Barnes & Noble chose After Annie by Anna Quindlen as their March National Book Club Selection.
Lakeside to Close Menasha Plant, Lay Off All 339 Employees, Will Close Two More Plants By Year-End
Lakeside Book Company indicated in a WARN notice to the state of Wisconsin that it will “permanently close its print production facility” in Menasha, WI, “due to changing market conditions.” As a result they will terminate all 339 employees at the plant, starting June 7 and ending June 21, when it will close. “Each employee impacted will receive a written 60-day notice of position elimination and will be paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at the time of their termination.” That work force was already reduced in 2023 through both voluntary and mandatory layoffs. General counsel and chief […]
Lagardere Publishing Grows on Acquisitions, Takes Big Charges, As HBG Sales Fell 6.8 Percent in 2023
Lagardere released financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023, with fourth quarter publishing sales of €795 million, up 5.8 percent (or 6.1 percent on a like-for-like basis). For the year, sales of €2.809 billion were up €61 million or 2.2 percent from 2022 (up 1.9 percent like-for-like). Recurring EBIT was just below flat at €301 million (down €1 million), though that does not tell the full story, since overall profit before finance costs and tax fell significantly, at €199 million, down from €291 million a year ago. The year’s sales gains were due primarily to a €50 […]