Last week France’s Fayard announced the promotion of literary editor Isabelle Saporta to ceo of the house — part of Hachette Livre — following the surprise departure in March of highly-regarded longtime ceo Sophie de Closets. In response to Saporta’s promotion, and as part of the continuing reaction to the de Closets’ departure and the pending completion of Vivendi’s acquisition of as much of Lagardere as the European Commission will allow, five well-known Fayard authors announced they will no longer publish with the house. The most successful is novelist Virginie Grimaldi, who announced online, “My values and my beliefs are […]
International News
China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair Postponed Again
The China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair has been postponed until November 18-22 due to recent Covid outbreaks and restrictions, returning to a fall schedule. It was previously scheduled for March 20-22, then July 22-24.
UTA to Acquire Curtis Brown UK
United Talent Agency (UTA) announced Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Curtis Brown UK, which will continue to operate under its current name, still run by ceo Jonny Geller. The announcement proclaims, “This structure will allow both Curtis Brown Group and UTA to continue their fruitful and longstanding relationships with other agency partners in the UK and US,” though that is ultimately up to those other agencies who use UTA and Curtis Brown as a sub-agent. Curtis Brown UK has over 240 employees across all divisions, including its production arms, and “is expected to continue to […]
More Paper Problems: Big European Producer Looks to Sell Four Mills
Announced about a month ago (and flagged now by the Bookseller), Finland’s forestry and packaging giant Stora Enso announced plans for “a possible divestment” of four paper mills across Europe (in Finland, Sweden and Germany), retaining just one mill in Belgium that produces magazine paper as they focus on packaging and other products. The entire paper division had sales of 1.7 billion euros in 2021. The company said “paper is not a strategic growth area for the Group.” Despite strong demand and growing prices, Inderes analyst Antti Viljakainen told Reuters, “On the operating profit level, 2020 and 2021 have been […]
Waterstones Sales Fell 38.5 Percent In Pandemic Year
Waterstones filed their annual report for the fiscal year ending a year ago, as of April 24, 2021, revealing a substantial decline in sales. The company reached sales of only £231 million in the year, down £135 million (or 38.5 percent) from £376 million in the prior year. Operating profit was £13 million (versus £30 million the year before) and profit before tax was £4.17 million (versus £23 million the year before). Those positive margins seem to have come from substantial government support — roughly £41 million during the reported period — and a reduction in force, with the average […]
Canadian Government Allocates $32 Million to Support Online Bookselling
Minister of Canadian Heritage the Honorable Pablo Rodriguez announced The Support for Booksellers initiative, intended to help Canadian bookstores increase their ability to sell books online as a result of the pandemic. Part of the Canada Book Fund, which supports books by Canadian authors, the initiative will give $32.1 million to bookstores over two years, “for expenses related to online book sales and to help these bookstores improve their online business models.” “During the pandemic, Canadians bought more Canadian books, proving that our authors and publishers are more important than ever in sharing our stories,” Rodriguez said. “Our government is proud to […]