McGraw-Hill reported third quarter earnings Friday morning, delayed from earlier in the week. Sales of $1.953 billion and net income from continuing operations of $379 million both grew, driven by increases at S&P, while the company took a $99 million charge due to the upcoming separation of their education unit. (“Approximately half” of that was attributed to actual restructuring; the rest was professional fees.) But sales fell 11 percent at the education division, to $836 million, while net profit, at $268 million, dropped 15 percent. McGraw-Hill attributed at least a third of the revenue decline to “deferred revenue associated with the migration to […]
People, Etc.
Due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy, The Random House Publishing Group’s Open House, originally scheduled for this Friday, November 2, will now take place on Friday, December 14. Guests who purchased a ticket for the original date and cannot attend on December 14 can receive a refund by emailing pr@randomhouse.com. With continued internet connectivity issues related to the hurricane, ABA regrets that we will not be able to produce a National Indie Bestseller List or any of the Regional Indie Bestseller Lists this week. At Palgrave Macmillan, Dominic Knight has been named chairman and will also be executive director, […]
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Random House‘s Maryland distribution center, which shut down for 30 hours Monday night because of the mega-storm, was back in full operation as of Tuesday evening. The company is authorizing weekend overtime for its fulfillment staff to attend to any outstanding back orders. Ingram also experienced a brief interruption in services due to power outages, but told Shelf Awareness its distribution center in Chambersburg, PA and print-on-demand center in Allentown, PA “are up and running on schedule,” and it is “working closely with carriers” to get service restored to areas currently made inaccessible by the storm. Most bookstores in the […]
Harlequin Sales and Profits Fall Again, Blaming 50 Shades of Grey
Harlequin’s parent company Torstar reported third quarter results Wednesday. The book publishing unit had sales of $107.8 million (CA), down by $7.9 million (including $1.9 million in foreign exchange impact.) EBITDA was down $5 million in the quarter at $19.8 million, which Torstar attributed to “revenue declines in most markets and increased costs in the North American digital business.” Harlequin also incurred a $500,000 restructuring charge so far in 2012 and has laid off 8 people. As in the past, the sales drop was attributed to declines in print revenues that couldn’t be offset by digital gains, though “the shift […]
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Profile Books has bought Birmingham-based publisher Tindal Street Press, which will become an imprint at the publishing house as of November 1, overseen by Serpent’s Tail publisher Hannah Westland. Tindal Street Press Director Alan Mahar said in a statement: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved during Tindal Street Press’s fourteen years of independent publishing in Birmingham. We found new English writers and published them with conviction and flair, earning prize-listings for the Man Booker, Orange and Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes, a British Book Award and two Costa Prize winners.” Profile Books MD Andrew Franklin added: “It’s always sad to see the […]
AJ Jacobs’ DROP DEAD HEALTHY Tops Hudson Booksellers Best Books of the Year Picks
Hudson Booksellers picked AJ Jacobs’ DROP DEAD HEALTHY (Simon & Schuster) as its Book of the Year, selecting an additional ten best in fiction, non fiction, business, and YA/children’s as follows: Fiction Justin Cronin, The Twelve Matthew Dicks, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend Jonathan Evison, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl Peter Heller, The Dog Stars Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds ML Stedman, The Light Between Oceans Jess Walter, Beautiful Ruins G Willow Wilson, Alif the Unseen Nonfiction Mark Bowden, The Finish Christopher Hitchens, Mortality AJ Jacobs, Drop Dead Healthy Jenny Lawson, Let’s […]