The American Booksellers Association canceled its plans for an in-person Winter Institute, originally scheduled for February 13-16 in Cincinnati. They will refund attendees’ registration fees in January, and will cancel hotel reservations at ABA hotels. The organization plans to announce updated programming details in the coming weeks. In a statement, the ABA said: “We have been full steam ahead with programming, planning, and safety precautions, but the rising number of COVID cases, the contagion of the new variant, and the hospital crisis in Ohio — including the National Guard being called in to assist understaffed hospitals — have forced us […]
2021: The Year in Finance
With Bookscan-monitored print sales up 11 percent in units through November and AAP-reported dollars up even more through October, trade publishers are lined up for a strong, and profitable, year. Multiple publishers have set new earnings records so far this year, as the pandemic-related increase in reading – including backlist sales, audio consumption and online purchasing – held, even as lockdown restrictions loosened in many regions. Based mostly on reports for the first three quarters — with a couple of recent updates — here’s where publishers’ march to a profitable 2021 stands for now: Bertelsmann For the first half of […]
People 12/20
Jenna Lettice and Tricia Lin have been promoted from to editor at Random House Books for Young Readers. Jasmine Hodge has been promoted to assistant editor at Random House Books for Young Readers.
It’s “Premature” for State to Collect Cuomo Earnings
This week, New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics ordered that Andrew Cuomo must turn over the profits from his book, American Crisis, for ethics violations. But the New York Attorney General’s office stated in a letter that before it collects the money, the ethics commission must produce an investigative report, the AP reports. The report must include “a record of the administrative process, and the statutory authority for the decision, the amount of the imposed fines and penalties, and a determination concerning the appropriate amount of disgorgement attributable to the violation of law,” the letter said. The report must […]
Scholastic’s Q2 Sales Improve with Resumed Book Fairs, Reckon with Higher Costs
Scholastic reported earnings for the fiscal second quarter ended November 30, with sales of $524 million, rebounding $118 million or 29 percent from a year ago. The gain still leaves them short of pre-COVID levels, with sales of $597.2 in 2019 and $604.7 million in 2018. In-person school book fairs resumed at about 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels and the company said those earnings exceeded expectations, with higher sales of educational materials as well, as students returned to school. The operating profit excluding one-time items was $84 million, up from $54 million last year (2019: $105 million; 2018: $98 million), […]
Acquisitions: ABC-CLIO to Bloomsbury, Wuxiaworld to Radish
Bloomsbury has acquired academic publisher ABC-CLIO for $22.9 million (£17.3 million). ABC-CLIO will become part of Bloomsbury’s Academic and Professional division within Bloomsbury USA. In 2020, ABC-CLIO reported sales of $14.7 million (£11.5 million), and profit before tax of $1.2 million (£0.9 million). Outside of integration and acquisition costs, the company is expected to add £2.1 million in revenue and £0.3 million in profit before tax to Bloomsbury’s current fiscal year, which ends on February 28. “ABC-CLIO is a strong addition to Bloomsbury USA, our Academic and Professional division and Bloomsbury Digital Resources,” Bloomsbury ceo Nigel Newton said. “This acquisition […]