It could be a while before we know the outcome of the DOJ’s lawsuit to block Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster, but the action is already resulting in a bull market for clueless reporting and commentary. From Bloomberg, we get an “analysis” from someone so well versed in publishing they think Penguin acquired Random House (I guess because their name is first?): “Admittedly, it doesn’t look like Penguin’s previous acquisition of Random House harmed the market at all.” The author also fails to understand that Simon & Schuster UK is a relatively small operation and was never […]
Commemorating Now, Celebrating Later: A PM Generation
This endless Covid year has taken away or suppressed all kinds of things, large and small. Along the way we ourselves passed a couple of occasions of note: First was the 20th anniversary of the start of Publishers Lunch, right after the lockdown began, in April 2020. And now we have arrived at the 20th anniversary of PublishersMarketplace.com. We’re not ready to party together yet — we’ll hope for that by next year, when we reach drinking age — but we didn’t want to let another milestone slip by without a short acknowledgment. It was, of course, simply unimaginable when […]
August AAP Stats Remained Strong
The AAP is catching up on their monthly StatShot reports, releasing statistics for August just a week after their July report. As in July, trade sales remained quite strong in August, once again with trade paperbacks leading the way. With retailers loading up early for the holidays, August sales were even stronger: Trade sales of $758 million were $112 million higher than a year ago, up 17.3 percent (and August 2020 was $46 million than August 2019). Adult sales of $521 million were up $69 million from 2020; children’s sales of $237 million were up $43 million. Adult trade paperbacks […]
Shanghai Children’s Book Fair Is Postponed
The Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), scheduled for November 19 to 21, has been postponed due to the resurgence of COVID-19. The new planned dates — March 20 to March 22 — coincide with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, currently set for March 21 to 24. Shanghai organizers write that: “For the first time, the two major professional children’s book fairs will connect East and West through innovative real-time events. By mobilizing their wide array of resources, the two fairs will organize joint activities in copyright trade, book promotion and illustration so that participants at both ends of the […]
Bookselling: Barnes & Noble In Skokie, IL to Close As Landlord Redevelops
A BN store in Skokie, IL’s Old Orchard Mall will close Christmas Eve after 27 years there, as the landlord is redeveloping the site and declined to renew the lease. The bookseller says, “We are doing everything we can to find a new store in this area and are very close to announcing a new location.”
Storytel Keeps Growing, But Will Be At Lower End of 2021 Guidance
Storytel reported third quarter results on Friday, with continued strong growth, including an increase of 19 percent in streaming sales and 27 percent in their subscriber base. But full year projections are now at the lower end of the revised guidance given last quarter, sending shares down 17 percent in a short trading day in Sweden. Streaming sales were 583 million SEK, compared to 490 million a year ago, and book publishing sales were 180 million, up 20 percent from 150 million a year ago. The streaming subscriber base was up 27 percent, to 1,724,000. Like many other publishers in […]