For the second year in a row, merger activity in book publishing was quite modest. Not only were there no blockbuster deals, there were very few acquisitions of any significant scale at all. Unfortunately, the year was more notable for business closures–particularly the winding down of Baker & Taylor and the bankruptcy sale of Diamond Comics, both of which had widespread impact. Authors were left with unpaid royalties from a series of publisher failures that included one-time fast growing companies such as Mango and Unbound. At least Baker & Taylor Publisher Services found a new home within Lakeside Book Company, […]
Year End
The New Bestsellers of 2024
Romance, romantasy, and domestic suspense dominated the bestselling books of 2024: Twenty percent of the top 200 print books according to Circana Bookscan–as of December 28–were written by four authors, with 16 spots taken by Sarah J. Maas, 11 by Freida McFadden, 8 by Ana Huang, and 6 by Colleen Hoover. The biggest title of the year was Kristin Hannah’s The Women, which sold 1.49 million copies since publishing in February. Frontlist titles make up 57 of the top 200, or about 29 percent–in line with last year’s list and the broader trend that has backlist comprising about 70 percent […]
2024: The Year In Deals
A soft fourth quarter for overall deals (-3.2 percent overall) had only modest effect on what was a record-setting year for PM reports overall in 2024–even with continued weakness in the children’s market. Overall deals were higher than ever, as adult deals set new records by a large margin. And publisher investment, in terms of reported six-figure deals as well as in major and significant deals in particular, well exceeded previous records. In particular: – US deals overall were up 3.5 percent, just beating the previous record set in 2021 when pandemic retail sales also set new records. – Adult Fiction continued […]
2024: The Year In Deals
A soft fourth quarter for overall deals (-3.2 percent overall) had only modest effect on what was a record-setting year for PM reports overall in 2024–even with continued weakness in the children’s market. Overall deals were higher than ever, as adult deals set new records by a large margin. And publisher investment, in terms of reported six-figure deals as well as in major and significant deals in particular, well exceeded previous records. In particular: – US deals overall were up 3.5 percent, just beating the previous record set in 2021 when pandemic retail sales also set new records. – Adult Fiction continued […]
2024: The Year in Finance
It surprises some people, but trade publishing sales have been good this year. Really. Dollar sales, as measured by the AAP, grew 5.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2024. Adult fiction remained particularly strong, helped by big sales for Sarah J. Maas (who moved 8.8 million print units alone) and the rapid rise of Freida McFadden (who sold roughly 5.3 million print units). The arrival of Spotify drove significant growth in audiobook sales—which have outpaced ebooks sales for the year so far for the first time ever. And the big publicly-reporting publishing companies boosted the topline with acquisitions […]
2024: The Year In Mergers
It was a pretty odd and modest year in mergers and acquisitions if we are being honest. Not only were there no blockbuster deals, there were very few acquisitions of any significant scale at all. There was a cluster of distress sales, however: Australian retailer was bought out of bankruptcy reorganization, as was Tattered Cover in Colorado. Barnes & Noble Education avoided delisting of its stock through a complicated refinancing that left Immersion Corporation in control. Canadian retailer Indigo went private in order to reorganize and recover, and Endeavor went private again after only a few years as a public […]