UK retailer WH Smith reported six-month results for the period ended February 28. Sales at their High Street bookstores remained flat at the historically low level of £270 million, which had been down (14) percent a year ago compared to before the pandemic, when sales were £315 million (and that period, in turn, was down from £333 million as of February 2019). High Street trading profit was £35 million, up slightly from £33 million last year. The company said, “Our High Street business delivered a resilient and profitable performance in the period, despite the challenges facing the UK high street…and […]
New Books Publishing April 26
Janelle Brown, Soon Wiley and Don Winslow lead this week’s fiction releases, while nonfiction includes new work from Viola Davis and Tina Brown. Also out today are books by Adriana Trigiani, Terry Crews and Denny S. Bryce, all excerpted and available in our Buzz Books 2022: Spring/Summer sampler. 22 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-april-26 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_April_/222683 10 nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-april-26 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_April_/222684 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming three months through this reference page. But if you want to make sure your key titles are on our radar, now […]
Lagardere Publishing Gains On Acquisitions and Rising Dollar
Lagardere reported first quarter sales for the period ended March 31, with publishing sales of €554 million, up from €509 million, an 8.7 percent topline increase over the first quarter of 2021. Most of the gains came from acquisitions — adding €25 million in all, including €22 million from Workman, and €17 million in foreign exchange gains, with the euro steadily losing ground against the US dollar and British pound. The sale of Brainbow reduced sales by about €1 million. The company cited the pattern of increased pandemic sales as well, while noting that “March saw the emergence of less […]
Obituary: Jill Kneerim
Partner and co-founder of Boston-based agency Kneerim & Williams Jill Kneerim died on April 22 at age 83. She was an editor at Simon & Schuster and co-founder of Grossman Publishers, then in 1990 founded the agency with Ike Williams. Her authors included Pulitzer Prize winners Matthew Desmond, Caroline Elkins, and Stephen Greenblatt among others, including Brad Meltzer, who paid tribute to her online: “For 28 years now, she taught me to have faith in growth — and to have faith in myself. Especially these last five years as I pushed to be a better writer.” Her colleagues at Kneerim […]
Aspen Words Literary Prize
Dawnie Walton won the $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize for The Final Revival of Opal & Nev.
People 4/21
At Random House Children's, Cat Reynolds has joined the Dr. Seuss Publishing team as editor. Reynolds was previously an editor at Sesame Workshop.