Pearson provided a third-quarter trading statement that, per the British tradition, is scant on data. Overall sales for the fiscal year so far are up by 6 percent and operating profit increased by 13 percent on the basis of “strong competitive performances in generally weak market conditions, benefiting from premium content and services, digital innovation and presence in developing economies.” At Penguin “sales were level with 2010” which is probably comparable to where they were when they reported more extensive results for the first half of the fiscal year. (Then, “underlying” sales were flat, and margins were up.) The publisher […]
Bookselling: St. Mark’s Gets Rent Reduction; New Stores in MA, MN, CA
St. Mark’s Bookshop will remain open after its landlords, Cooper Union, granted a rent reduction after all – but not quite as much as they were seeking. Instead, the store’s rent will be reduced to $17,500 a month for a one-year-period with $7,000 in existing debt immediately forgiven. The school will also provide student help with revising the store’s business plan. St. Mark’s also does not plan to rehire staff at the present time. “I really thought there wasn’t going to be a deal and that we couldn’t afford to stay here,” co-owner Bob Contant told the NYT, but things […]
Amazon Launches Prime eBooks Benefit Plan, Now Called Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
As we reported in September, after months of trying to enlist publisher participation in an ebook library for Amazon Prime members, the etailer has launched that initiative with a modest base of about 5,000 titles. Called Kindle Owners Lending Library, it makes available selected, mostly backlist titles, with promoted books coming from publishers including Scholastic, Norton, Bloomsbury, Grove/Atlantic, Workman/Algonquin, F+W Media, Lonely Planet, and Amazon’s own publishing imprints. Rosetta Books tells the WSJ they alone are contributing about 200 titles. None of the six largest publishers are participating (and when we discussed it with them in September, none of the companies […]
Harper Says Revenue and Profit Increased In First Quarter
News Corp. reported first quarter earnings after the close of the market on Wednesday, and once again, per the company’s changed standard, there was no specific mention of either HarperCollins or book publishing. The larger publishing division–which is dominated by the company’s newspapers– suffered as a result of the closing of News of the World, as segment operating income dropped $68 million from the previous year, though sales still rose $23 million compared to the same period a year ago. In a subsequent statement Harper reported they had “a great quarter, with an increase in revenue and profit over last […]
Briefs: Opening Week Sales for STEVE JOBS; The Numbers on Amazon Publishing; and More
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs sold more than 382,000 print copies in its first week on sale in the US, with an additional 37,244 copies sold in the UK, according to Bookscan numbers obtained by the Bookseller. The numbers make STEVE JOBS the 18th bestselling book of the year after just six days on sale, based solely on the outlets Bookscan reports from. It is not known yet how many digital copies Simon & Schuster has sold so far. Amazon Publishing has released 149 titles to date from its various imprints (with at least another hundred to follow in […]
People, Etc.
David Goehring has joined Wiley as director of digital publishing for the professional/trade group. He was most recently director of Harvard Business Press, and before that held executive positions at Perseus and Pearson. Susan Fensten is leaving Oxford University Press, where she was a senior publicist, to launch Fensten PR, a small, independent book publicity firm with a focus on political titles. Director of Belge Publishing House and advocate for free expression Ragip Zarakolu was detained on October 28 by the Turkish government under the country’s anti-terrorism laws. He has run afoul of the government on several occasions since founding […]