Baker & Taylor’s parent company Follett announced a “strategic shift” in which B&T will exit the business of wholesaling books to retailers. “Exiting wholesale book distribution will allow us to align our resources, technology and people to do what we do best – helping public libraries support the communities they serve.” B&T president Dave Cully says in the release. “We will be working closely with our existing customers and partners to ensure a smooth transition during this change.” Ultimately, however, unsold stock “will be returned to our publishers.” They told accounts in an email they expect to “complete our exit […]
Finance
McGraw-Hill Education and Cengage Plan to Merge
As the educational publishing market continues to contract, two of the biggest players — McGraw-Hill Education and Cengage Learning — announced plans today for an all-stock cashless merger that would create the second largest provider of textbooks and higher education learning materials in the United States. With the deal expected to close “by early 2020,” it would create a company with $3.16 billion in annual sales — and more than $4.5 billion in long-term debt. (The leader, a shrinking Pearson, had total sales of £4.13 billion in 2018, or about $5.5 billion. Their North American sales were £2.78 billion, or […]
Briefs: Dykstra Sues Over Darling Book, Bertelsmann Restructures Printing Group
Legal Former NY Mets player Lenny Dykstra has sued Ron Darling, his former teammate, as well as his publisher St. Martin’s in New York Supreme Court for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. At issue is a passage in the just-published 108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game. According to Darling’s book, Dykstra hurled racist comments at Boston Starter Oil Can Boyd while he warmed up for Game 3 of the 1986 World Series; Darling wrote, “the worst collection of taunts and insults I’d ever heard — worse, I’m betting, […]
Lagardere Publishing Still Looking to Acquire
Lagardere published their full annual report, which provides broader guidance for 2019 — including a strong reiteration that the publishing division is still looking to build their English-language publishing operations through an acquisition of scale: “As part of the strategy defined for the Group by Arnaud Lagardère, Lagardère Publishing plans to position itself for the potential acquisition of an English-language publisher – yet to be identified – to increase its weight in that linguistic market, where a large part of the economic future of global publishing is being played out.” More broadly, the publishing group “is expected to resume growth,” […]
People, Etc.
Joe Davidson is joining Black Dog & Leventhal as editor, starting April 8. Previously he was an editor at Rizzoli. Acquisitions Charleston, SC-based Arcadia Publishing has an agreement to acquire “the significant majority of [the] assets” of New Orleans-based Pelican Publishing, which has a list of over 2,000 titles. The transaction will close in May. Arcadia ceo David Steinberger says in the announcement, “It is a publisher that fits well with Arcadia’s mission, which is to connect people with their past, with their communities and with one another.” Pelican president and publisher Kathleen Calhoun Nettleton, whose family has owned the […]
WND Books In “Spectacular Fall,” With Authors Reportedly Unpaid
WorldNetDaily has fallen on hard times, and the sufferers include authors with their WND imprint, as well as people who paid to publish through their World Ahead Press. The Washington Post reports that, “Many authors who signed on with the site’s publishing arm, including former Republican senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, are fuming about allegedly not receiving royalties owed to them.” Coburn says he had a “very frank and disturbing” conversation with ceo Joseph Farah last year about unpaid royalties for his book, Smashing the D.C. Monopoly. “I accused him of not being honest,” Coburn said. “He doesn’t keep his […]