Quarto announced Tuesday that it had acquired Frances Lincoln Ltd for £4.5m. Quarto chairman Laurence Orbach said in a statement that Frances Lincoln’s non-fiction and illustrated children’s book list “complements Quarto’s existing UK publishing business, several imprints trading under the Aurum name, and more than doubles the scale of our presence in the UK. The acquisition is in keeping with our strategy to further expand our already broad offering of niche content.” For the fiscal year ending March 31, Frances Lincoln reported an audited profit before tax of £619,000, net assets of £3.8 million and gross assets of £5.9 million. […]
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Hachette UK Changes Pension Contribution Plan As of September 30
With a shortfall of about £36m to overcome, Hachette UK will stop making contributions to Orion and Hodder pension funds as of September 30. Ceo Tim Hely Hutchinson gave two months notice to affected staffers in May that they will be switched over to Hachette’s “defined contribution pension scheme”, but 36 Orion employees are in talks as to what that entails – and whether Hachette’s offer fulfills the terms of the original contract. (Only company employees who have been with Hachette since 2003 are affected, since the company dropped the option for new staffers that year.) A strangely-worded piece in […]
Briefs: Pearson Gets Go-Ahead To Buy REDGroup Online Business; Sharing Google Books in Google+; and More
Some of the news that’s accumulated on a Friday in August: The Australian Competition Commission announced it “would not oppose” Pearson’s acquisition of the bankrupt REDGroup Retail’s online business, including the websites for Borders Australia and Angus & Robertson. saying it “will provide a summary of the reasons for its decision in due course.” Administrators Ferrier Hodgson also said that creditors must lodge any last claims against REDGroup by September 1, with final dividends due to be paid out in October. In addition, any customers still holding Angus & Robertson and Borders gift cards who file claims with administrators will […]
‘Elf On the Shelf’ Publishers Sue Adams Media Over Parody
CCA and B, LLC, which publishes the holiday book ELF ON THE SHELF, appear to be unamused at the prospect of a parody due for publication on October 18 by Adams Media, so much so they are suing the company – as well as editor Brendan O’Neill, publicist Beth Gissinger, designer Jessica Faria, and parent company F+W Media – in Georgia District Court. According to the 19-count complaint filed on June 24, Adams’ ELF OFF THE SHELF: A Christmas Tradition Gone Bad, infringes on CCA and B’s trademarks, copyright, and domain name, and they seek both a jury trial and […]
Bookselling: Effect of London Riots; Another Books-A-Million Store Replaces Borders; and More
With the London riots entering their fourth day the effect on bookstores has not been widespread, but some have suffered damage and protective measures are being put in place for others. Gay’s the Word, the country’s only LGBT bookshop, was pelted with eggs and its windows were smashed in on Monday. Pages of Hackney opened for business Tuesday in the east London neighborhood despite the continuing violence, saying in a message on Twitter “Shop is open and all members of staff are undamaged and fit for bookselling….. just about.” Both Waterstone’s and WHSmith have closed stores in several affected neighborhoods, […]
Higher Ed: Free Food Trucks From Living Language; Nook-to-School Promotion; and More
This week Random House’s language learning program, Living Language, will launch its new Platinum Edition, a multi-platform solution that will allow users to engage with a variety of languages through course books and CDs, mobile apps, an online course, an online community, and individualized instruction from a native speaker e-tutor. The course will initially be offered for $179 in French, Spanish, Italian and German, with Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic editions to come. (The Platinum app is also available for separate purchase.) As part of the launch, coordinated by the ad agency Mullen (most recently responsible for a multi-million dollar campaign […]