A good final sales week, ending on December 25 — with one extra shopping day compared to the same week in 2020 — put print sales for the four final holiday weeks as measured by NPD Bookscan just about even with 2020. At just under 110 million units, 2021’s total was less than a million units behind last year’s sales. That strong finale leaves 2021 sales running 8.9 percent ahead of last year’s print sales, pointed towards another year of robust sales for print books. After 51 weeks, Bookscan counts print sales of 810 million units — compared to 744 […]
New York Governor Vetoes Library eBook Bill
New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill from the State Assembly that would have imposed restrictions on the terms under which publishers license ebooks to libraries. The legislation was similar to the Maryland law that the AAP is currently challenging in Federal court, imposing a vague requirement of “reasonable terms”. Hochul wrote in her veto, “While the goal of this bill is laudable, unfortunately, copyright protection provides the author of a work with the exclusive right to their works. As such, federal law would allow the author, and only the author, to determine to whom they wish to share […]
A PM Discount For the End (or Beginning) of the Year
Starting tomorrow, December 29, we have one more chance for people to check out PublishersMarketplace.com for a full month at a substantial discount. Use the code PM4ME from December 29 through January 2 to get the first month’s membership for only $15, and finish (or begin) the year with a wealth of research and information. Feel free to share the code with friends; make sure to put the code in the indicated “Promo Code: ___” field when registering.
Holiday News
We are moving into our traditional holiday mode at PM, which is different than many other publications. Our website operates all the time, and we’ll be processing deals, job openings, bestsellers, reviews, Bookscan sales and other data at our site on a regular basis. We’ll continue to cover the news, posting to Publishers Marketplace as appropriate. (A reminder that our News App makes it easy to follow the latest posts and updates on your mobile device.) Publishers Lunch Deluxe will be back at some point next week, with at least one catch-up newsletter to keep from falling too far behind. […]
2021: The Year In Mergers
It was a blockbuster year for mergers and acquisitions, even with the headline-making lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice to try to block Penguin Random House‘s deal to acquire Simon & Schuster. Prospective sellers across the publishing landscape read the environment and made big deals, often at healthy multiples. With growing sales, strong profits, and impressive resales, publishing is actually looking investable to a wider range of players. And there was plenty of notable activity beyond the roster of straight acquisitions. Scholastic experienced a dramatic change in control following the abrupt death of Dick Robinson, and surprising designation of […]
A Holiday Discount
The holidays mean time to offer a substantial discount on new PublishersMarketplace.com memberships. You can try a deep dive into the full resources of our site over the next month, if you give yourself the gift of registration now. Use the “promo code” IGOTPM in the indicated field when you register and enjoy the first month of service for just $15. Feel free to share this offer with anyone you think might be interested. (Please note, you must enter code in the “Promo Code: ___” box when registering to work.) This code is valid through December 27 only.