The University of Denver’s Publishing Institute (DPI) summer program is going online for the 2020 session, the institute announced Tuesday, “in order to balance student health with the need to preserve the DPI student experience.” The program itself is “mostly unchanged,” with the same instructors, curriculum, and assignments. Most classes will be taught live, but “the online format allows for pre-recorded sessions that students may view when it is most convenient to them.” The application period is open through June 1, and tuition remains unchanged at $4810. The institute is enhancing the program’s networking component “by taking advantage of technology […]
How Publishing Works
Kobo Extends Work From Home Through End of Year
CEO of Kobo Michael Tamblyn shared via Twitter on Thursday the company’s plan to let employees in its Toronto headquarters, as well as in its Dublin, Darmstadt, and Taipei offices, work from home for the rest of 2020. The move is in line with other major technology companies, and perhaps provides a glimpse toward what might be publishing’s new normal. “Back in March, making the call to go remote for *2 weeks* seemed momentous,” tweeted Tamblyn. “Now, extending 7 months seems bizarrely normal.” How large publishers in big cities will repurpose offices that were not designed for social distancing is […]
Corporate: Scholastic Closes DCs in Cost Cutting, Bloomsbury Acquires Zed, and More
Scholastic reported results for the third quarter ending February 29, and announced cost and service cuts due to the pandemic: “We are taking aggressive actions to reduce operating expenses throughout the company, including the temporary closing of warehousing and distribution centers, and a freeze on hiring, travel and other discretionary spending not directly tied to short-term revenue, while working hard to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff worldwide,” ceo Richard Robinson said in the release. Overall sales for the quarter were $373 million, up $13 million compared to a year ago. Trade sales were even stronger — at […]
Many Less Happy Returns, and A Light Forecast for Spring, As Barnes & Noble Prepares Inventory Shift
This time a year ago publishers were worried about printing and restocking the books customers wanted before the holidays, but now the concern that a number of publishers and agents have been expressing in recent weeks is somewhat of the inverse. They’re focused on leftover stock at Barnes & Noble that will be sold under shared markdowns or returned after a post-holiday sale, along with signals that initial orders from the chain for spring are running lighter. Those issues are all seen through the lens of a particularly tense holiday sales period: The late Thanksgiving left only three-and-a-half weeks to […]
Briefs: New from Owens and Clintons, The Atwood Review Embargo, and More
Forthcoming Delia Owens‘ WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, will be published in a Spanish-language edition in the US and Canada by Vintage Español. La chica salvaje will release in trade paperback on October 29, with Penguin Random House Audio publishing the audio edition. (That’s the title used by El Ático de los Libros in Barcelona, which sold the rights to Vintage.) Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton‘s children’s book GRANDMA’S GARDENS, highlighting “the special bonds between mothers, grandmothers and the children they love,” will be published by Philomel on March 31. (The Penguin Children’s imprint has published previous books by Chelsea […]
LSC Closes Plant in Torrance, Says More to Come
Troubled printer LSC Communications announced second quarter results on Thursday morning, with net sales of $869 million, down 7.8 percent from $943 million in the same period last year. As expected, they had a net loss of $24 million, which included after-tax charges of $26 million, “primarily due to the impairment of intangible assets in the magazines, catalogs and logistics segment and other restructuring costs.” With the planned Quad exit door slammed shut, ceo Thomas J. Quinlan III is now proceeding with a two-part plan to improve margins and free cash flow, and lower debt: First, using consultants to poll […]