At Disney Consumer Products, Andrew Sugerman has been promoted to evp of Disney Publishing, taking over running the division from Russell Hampton (who held the title of president). Sugerman joined the company in 2007 and built their Disney English learning business (with over 30 language learning centers in China) and he oversees all global English language learning efforts for Disney Publishing. Curtis Brown UK has promoted Jonathan Lloyd to chairman “following a strategic review and consultation period,” with Jonny Geller and Ben Hall acting as joint ceos “to spearhead the management of the company.” The partnership has also instituted “a new […]
International News
Corporate: Indigo Q4 Sales Decline Despite One-Shot Kobo Earnings Gain; Flammarion Sale Negotiations Are Extended
Indigo reported sales of C$196 million for the fourth quarter ending March 31, down 2 percent from the previous year, while suffering an operating loss of C$15.7 million from continuing operations, higher than the C$13.7 million the company lost the previous year. But Indigo received a one-shot earnings gain of C$135.7 million from selling Kobo to Rakuten (booking a pre-tax gain of $165 million, presumably less operating losses from the unit). For the full fiscal year, Indigo revenues decreased 2.3 percent to C$934 million and the company reported net profits of C$66.2 million — of which C$94 million was attributed […]
Corporate: Macmillan New Ventures Buys EBI; Gallimard Last and Only Bidder for Flammarion
The sale of French publisher Flammarion by RCS appears to be down to a single contender, Les Echos reported, after bidding partners Albin Michel and Chequers Capital dropped out when they refused to increase their offer. The lone publishing house still in contention to buy Flammarion is Gallimard, which reportedly is working to raise their original offer of approximately 200 million euros. The RCS board of directors, which waffled its way into the sale offer in the first place, has indicated it might cancel the sale if the offer is not improved sufficiently–which is about the only tool available to them […]
Waterstone’s In “Far-Reaching” Alliance with Amazon to Sell Kindle
Already running late with its promised ereading initiative, Waterstones announced that “a far-reaching partnership” with Amazon “to launch new e-reading services and offer Kindle digital devices through its UK shops.” Downplayed in coverage of the announcement is that, even with a plug-and-play solution, Waterstones still won’t be ready to launch the initiative until sometime “in the Autumn.” First they need to install wi-fi in their stores (which apparently they had never done previously). Waterstone’s managing director James Daunt says in the press release, “The best digital readers, the Kindle family, will be married to the singular pleasures of browsing a […]
eBooks Grow to Comprise 6 Percent of Export Sales
As part of their expanding BookStats project, the AAP is now breaking out some meaningful export sales data for the first time. Many US publishers have known that export is the prime growth areas and have been devoting resources towards maximizing the opportunity. The interesting insight is that, while digital clearly cannibalizes print sales in the US, it’s fueling both print and ebook sales in export markets. From 161 reporting publishers, print export sales in 2011 were $335.9 million, and ebook sales into the same territories were $21.5 million (or 6 percent of all export sales). Significantly the biggest “export” […]
Initiatives: Faber In Audio Co-Venture with Canongate; Hay House Enrolls Bloggers
In the UK, Faber has entered in an audio co-publishing venture with Canongate (which acquired audio publisher CSA in 2010). Canongate will produce and sell audio editions of up to about a dozen Faber titles annually, the Bookseller reports. (Faber will continue to publish audio versions of their poetry books independently.) In the US, Hay House has started a blogger review program, BookNook, that is similar to Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze initiative. They aim to create “one central place for bloggers to share their thoughts and experiences about Hay House products,” providing free review copies in exchange for “an honest […]