In the wake of John Fallon‘s plan to retire as chief executive of Pearson, longtime chief financial officer Coram Williams has read the signs and taken a “comparable role at a company based in Continental Europe.” Williams will leave the company and its board later this year after a transition period, and deputy cfo Sally Johnson will take over his role. Alida Becker will retire from the NYT Book Review, where she has worked for over 30 years as preview editor, on January 25, though she will continue her association as a contributor and columnist. Senior staff editor on the […]
LSC to Close Three More Plants
With Wall Street viewing printer LSC Communications as a zombie, trading at a market cap of about $7 million, the company announced that they are closing three more magazine and catalog printing plants. The closures are positioned as positive and decisive measures that “will strengthen the Company’s manufacturing platform by significantly reducing costs and improving utilization across LSC’s production facilities.” They are closing plants in Strasburg, VA (approximately 385 employees); Glasgow, KY (about 650 employees); and Mattoon, IL (about 750 employees) as “the company continues to focus on manufacturing footprint optimization to align with industry trends.” The closures are expected […]
People: Rubin to Leave Holt
Following the appointment of Amy Einhorn as president and publisher of Holt last September, the publisher’s chairman Steve Rubin will move on. He writes, “I have just celebrated my tenth anniversary at Henry Holt and, after considerable thought, have decided this is the perfect time to move on. My time here has been among the happiest in my career because not only has Holt been reborn and reenergized, but also working at Macmillan has been so satisfying. I spent 30 years at various incarnations of Bantam Doubleday Dell and Random House, and while I was for the most part very […]
French Trade Magazine Plans Big Layoffs
France’s book publishing trade magazine Livres Hebdo announced on December 30 a reorganization that if enacted would eliminate half of their editorial staff (seven out of fourteen people, including four of six editors), according to an online petition launched two days ago. That proposal would be finalized in February. The company says it plans to focus on digital news, and the magazine will become monthly by September. Parent company Electre said in a statement that the changes are needed “in order to adapt to changes in customer demand and restore its economic balance.” An online petition says, “It is to […]
Bookselling: Bankrupt Book People Fires More People; Book Culture Landlord Supports A Bookstore — with A Different Operator
Insolvent UK retailer The Book People has been unable to find a buyer for the business, and another 82 people at their main warehouse were fired last Friday as a result. Since going to bankruptcy administration, the company has let go over 150 people from a staff of just under 400 — meaning more jobs remain on the line as PricewaterhouseCoopers winds down operations. Separately, the landlord for the seized Book Culture space on Columbus Avenue in NYC tells the Gothamist, “Our intention is to keep that space as a bookstore and we’re working hard to do that. It just […]
Now It’s Official: Print Sales Were Steady in 2019 (with An Asterisk)
With NPD Bookscan reporting their tracked print sales for the week ending January 4 — their 52nd sales week of the year — we now have final counts for the year’s sales, and the bestselling titles of the year. Total print sales declined 1.1 percent following a weak holiday sales period, at 689 million units, down 7.8 million units, or 1.1 percent, from 2018. But those numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. 2018 was one of the periodic 53-week years, so the 696 million units recorded a year ago do not make for a direct comparison. Given that yields […]