Russian-Ukrainian sci-fi and fantasy author Sergey Dyachenko died on May 5 at 77. With his wife, Marina Dyachenko, he was the co-author of more than 30 books, including Vita Nostra, The Scar, and Daughter from the Dark. A sequel to Vita Nostra will be published by Harper Voyager next year.
Harper Earnings Reflect Supply Chain and Production Costs
News Corp. reported results for their fiscal third quarter 2022 ended March 31 after the close of the market on Thursday, with Harper Collins recording sales of $515 million, up 5 percent overall from $490 million a year ago. Adjusted sales declined 1 percent, however. The overall growth includes $37 million from recent acquisitions (most of that from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) — offset by $6 million in negative currency exchange and $14 million less in Bridgerton sales than a year ago, along with unspecified “lower sales” in children’s and foreign language books. A year ago, the publisher reported a particularly […]
Storytel Grows in Q1 With Audiobooks.com Acquisition, Confirms Restructuring
Swedish audiobook streaming service and publisher Storytel reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, with streaming sales of SEK698.599 million ($74.8 million), up 35 percent from SEK517.075 million a year ago. The growth was fueled by the January acquisition of Audiobooks.com, which also likely led to a pre-tax loss for the quarter of SEK(233.3) million, compared to a loss of SEK(66.1) million in Q1 2021. Print publishing sales were SEK149.3 million, up 19 percent from SEK125.189 million. The company acknowledged a “restructuring of Storytel’s streaming organization” in March, which “was an emotional but undoubtedly necessary next step in […]
Steep Drop in Booktopia Earnings; Founder Nash to Step Down
Australia’s online bookseller Booktopia released a trading update for the quarter ending March 31 showing slower growth and a big drop in earnings, accompanied by an announcement that co-founder Tony Nash will step down as ceo once a replacement is found. Sales of $64.5 million AU were down 1% compared to last year, “due to the disrupted start to the academic year.” EBITDA fell 65 percent to $1.5 million, due to increased operating expenses at its distribution center and the lower academic book sales. “Whilst the company is pleased to see revenues continue to grow and expects that to continue, […]
CCC Acquires Ringgold
The Copyright Clearance Center has acquired Ringgold, which provides persistent identifiers (PIDs)–metadata that is unique to a person, organization, article, etc, particularly used in scholarly communications. The terms of the deal were not announced. “Globally unique PIDs are essential for creating connections between articles, researchers, institutions, and funders,” CCC president and ceo Tracey Armstrong said. “We look forward to collaborating with Ringgold and industry stakeholders to further invest in identifiers to power interoperability, and data-driven applications. In particular, we will collaborate with partners to infuse PIDs earlier in the research lifecycle, addressing market demand for consistent use of PIDs in […]
Bookselling: Rainy Day Books for Sale
Founder and president of Rainy Day Books in Kansas City Vivien Jennings and her husband Roger Doeren are selling the 47-year-old store, Kansas City Business Journal reports. “As the world begins to open back up, the pace and hospitality of the author events we produce requires greater stamina than we have at ages 77 and 70,” they said in an email newsletter. “It is time for someone new to be the face and voice of Rainy Day Books.” The owners’ son, Geoffrey, will screen potential buyers through June then in July will follow up with those “who we believe are […]