From this side of the Atlantic it looks obvious, but following the launch of the local Kindle store and price competition from WH Smith, at least some UK trade people are both upset and somehow surprised by the turn of events. Upset enough to give colorful quotes to the Bookseller, but not so firm on principle as to be identified by name, a “senior publisher” declares “it’s absolutely absurd to devalue our product but I’m not surprised because our industry is populated by nincompoops.” It’s not exactly clear who falls into this colorful category, since the same executive who is […]
International News
More Concerns about Australia/New Zealand Bookselling Giant; McNally Jackson Still Waiting for Espresso to Brew
We noted in late July that RedGroup–the dominant bookseller in Australia and New Zealand under the Whitcoulls, Angus & Robertson and Borders ANZ operations–was talking to its lenders about getting a waiver from an expected breach of their borrowing covenants. (Even so, they were reportedly projecting ebitda of approximately $25 million AU for their fiscal year ending in late August.) A new story in Crikey cites industry sources whom claim the group “has been forced to jack up prices, increase returns and extend trading terms with its suppliers.” One anonymous publisher says the chains have asked for 120 days to […]
Indigo Sales and Losses Both Rise, As Kobo Costs Weigh
First quarter results of Canada’s biggest bookseller–or “largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer” as they now describe themselves–Indigo carry an echo of what Barnes & Noble faces right. Same-store sales at their superstores rose by 1.5 percent, while smaller-store comps declined just 0.7 percent and overall sales of $204.3 million (CA) were up $10.7 million or 5.5 percent from a year ago. But their online sales remain flat in the face of Amazon’s growing strength in Canada and the net loss more than doubled, from $2.3 million to $5.3 million. CEO Heather Reisman says “the increased loss is not […]
eNews: Houghton Negotiates with Pat Conroy to Allow Release of Open Road Backlist eBooks, and More
The stalemate over electronic rights to some of Pat Conroy’s backlist titles has been resolved and Open Road is going ahead with ebook release of the titles that they announced almost a year ago. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt spokesperson Lori Glazer tells the AP, “in this instance we negotiated an agreed-upon separation of print from electronic, to our mutual satisfaction.” Arthur Klebanoff at Rosetta Books, who had published an ebook version of The Prince of Tides, says: “Did I want to renew this license? The answer is ‘Yes.’ But until the arrival of the Kindle, you had a tiny, tiny marketplace. […]
Sales Rise at Harper As Profits Lag
HarperCollins has joined Simon & Schuster and Penguin in reporting increased sales for their most recent quarter, ending June 30, at $302 million, up over 8 percent from $278 million a year ago. Profits are still lagging, however, with an operating loss of $1 million–matching the loss from this time a year ago (though they were up $3 million prior to depreciation and amortization). For the full fiscal year, Harper recorded sales of $1.269 billion, recovering 11 percent after a poor fiscal 2009, with operating income of $88 million–hardly a stellar performance, but much improved from just $17 million in […]
People
Octopus in the UK will cut 19 people and another 10 have accepted “voluntary redundancy,” the Bookseller reports, comprising almost 30 percent of the staff of 104 people. At Yale University Press, Ileene Smith has been promoted to executive editor-at-large; Tim Shea has been promoted to editor of foreign languages; and Laura Davulis has been promoted to editor, digital development. Harper Children’s vp, director of inventory management and member of their executive committee David Toberisky will retire at the end of the year after 23 years at the company. Sheryl Moore-Anderson will rejoin the division in August as director of […]