As indicated in our early look at the first three weeks of post-Labor Day dealmaking in the US, transactions have remained strong in the five weeks and one day that we measure every year as the pre-Frankfurt Book Fair period. Here are the updated results, now with pretty charts. Total deal volume was up Pre-Frankfurt US deal totals have been consistently dead flat for the past five years — but this year, they spiked to their second-highest total in the past decade. Overall reports were up 11.5 percent over last year (81 more deals). And this year’s count was just […]
Deals
Rights Pitches Begin
Virtual pitch sessions filling the gap following the cancellation of the Frankfurt Book Fair begin next Monday. From our modest crowd-sourced schedule, the week begins with the Pontas Agency presenting Booker-shortlisted Avni Doshi and her UK editor Hermione Thompson, though BURNT SUGAR has already been licensed in many territories. To add your event(s) to our schedule, just fill in the form at publun.ch/pitches. As noted previously we’re agnostic as to whether you have scheduled your own independent event, or one as part of FBF’s pitch webinar program. To view our schedule, just bookmark: publun.ch/pitchsessions.
Fall Dealmaking Shows Strong Start
With the Frankfurt Book Fair cancelled, we are taking a preliminary look at the big fall “dealmaking season” a full three weeks after Labor Day. (Ordinarily, we chart pre-FBF deal trends according to the five-plus weeks between Labor Day and the Tuesday before the Fair.) So far, the market for new deals is looking strong in a number of ways, in line with healthy print book sales in recent weeks, and financial reports showing trade publishers managing reasonably well during the pandemic and improving their performance during the summer. Of course it’s too early to know if dealmakers have simply […]
Deal Volume Holds, As Investment Declines
A month ago we showed that April dealmaking volume in the US was relatively strong, following a big dropoff in the second half of March. The total number of reported six-figure deals was relatively strong as well looking at March and April combined, running only 4 deals (or 4.6 percent) below the average from the previous four years. The biggest change was a sharp decline in the biggest, or major, deals. May statistics tell a similar story, though with more erosion across all six-figure or better deals. Total US deal volume was stable, down 2 percent compared to May 2019, […]
The Deals Are Alright
As you may have noticed informally, deal reports have been looking pretty steady over the past month at PublishersMarketplace.com, and with April coming to an end, we can share some data on dealmaking patterns since the pandemic hit. Broadly speaking, deal volumes were strong in the first half of March up until the cancelled London Book Fair. As companies moved to work from home and shelter-in-place orders rolled out across the country, deal reports got much quieter in second half of March. But April has seen a steady pick up in reports. Looking at the month on its own, we […]
The Fair Is Cancelled But Pre-London Dealmaking Has Been Steady, If Modest In Investment
As regular readers know, we chart the domestic dealmaking data ahead of both the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs. Ordinarily we would provide a first look this Friday and then follow up next Wednesday, but with the cancellation of LBF, we wanted to see how the dealmaking trends have been lining up. The good news is that deal volumes are looking strong overall, only 5.5 percent below last year’s final pre-London total, so likely to finish well ahead of last year. Fiction deals have already rebounded, running 8.6 percent ahead of last year’s final total. And debut fiction deals are […]