It was a blockbuster year for mergers and acquisitions, even with the headline-making lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice to try to block Penguin Random House‘s deal to acquire Simon & Schuster. Prospective sellers across the publishing landscape read the environment and made big deals, often at healthy multiples. With growing sales, strong profits, […]
Year End
2021: The Year in Finance
With Bookscan-monitored print sales up 11 percent in units through November and AAP-reported dollars up even more through October, trade publishers are lined up for a strong, and profitable, year. Multiple publishers have set new earnings records so far this year, as the pandemic-related increase in reading – including backlist sales, audio consumption and online […]
Zauner Tops Libro.fm’s Bestselling Audiobooks of the Year
Libro.fm announced their top 10 audiobooks of 2021, “based on sales through 1,500+ independent bookstore partners.” Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, narrated by Michelle Zauner (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group) The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, narrated by Rebecca Lowman (Simon & Schuster Audio) Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins […]
Simon & Schuster CEO Looks to “A Host of New Opportunities”
As Simon & Schuster closes the year as part of the newly re-merged ViacomCBS, ceo Carolyn Reidy writes to staff in her year-end letter, “This re-combination will present Simon & Schuster with a host of new opportunities as we forge close relationships that can both draw from and supply content to our new media partners, […]
Briefs
Robin Richardson will join Tommy Nelson as senior director of marketing starting December 18. Previously she was vice president of digital for RFD-TV. The Noble Prize site has posted the text of Olga Tokarczuk‘s Nobel Lecture. The Book Industry Study Group released their 2019 update to the BISCAC codes (the detailed genre/subject codes that tell trading […]
HBG Marks Good 2018, Looks to Gladwell and More In New Year
Hachette Book Group USA ceo Michael Pietsch welcomed staff back to work with a summary memo, celebrating “another strong year in 2018” in which “our budget for revenue and profit and surpassed 2017’s results.” He notes that “our publishing divisions all contributed to our positive financial results.” It was also a year, as previously reported, […]