Bloomsbury released a non-specific “interim management update” for the final four months of the year on Monday that, true to the form, highlights everything good that happened and declares it a “strong” period. Others have hailed the declaration that “ebook sales grew significantly with the quarter ended December 31 being up 38 percent year on year,” but we thought that sounded weak next to most other year-over-year comps, particularly given that the UK market is supposed to have been growing at a faster rate than the US as it catches up. (Note that for the 6 months ending August 2011, […]
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Betsy Mitchell will work for Open Road as strategic advisor for sci-fi and fantasy, and will “spearhead” their acquisition and publishing of backlist sci-fi and fantasy titles. Mitchell retired from her position as editor-in-chief at Ballantine Bantam Dell’s Del Rey Spectra in December. She started her own editorial services company. At Norton, Alane Mason has been promoted to vp, executive editor. She has been an editor for the company since 1999. Barnaby Dawe, marketing communications director at News International, is moving over to corporate sibling Harper UK, in the new position of chief marketing officer. He will report to Victoria […]
Like Thalia’s Germany, France’s Fnac Announces Restructuring As Sales Fall
Just after Germany’s biggest bookselling chain announced losses and an unspecified restructuring, French bookselling chain Fnac is in a similar position. The group says sales at their stores fell 5.4 percent in 2011 and they “expect annual current operating income to decrease by half,” citing “a severe decrease in popularity” of publications. They say “the worsening of the economic crisis over the last six months has led to a significant decrease in household spending in Europe, which is affecting Fnac’s markets in all of the countries in which it is present.” Fnac says they are working on an 80-million-euro cost […]
Thalia’s Parent May Sell, Spinoff–Or Just Sit Tight
Parent company of Germany’s largest–but ailing–book chain Thalia continues to be the focus of market gyration. First shares fell sharply on reduced earnings guidance, driven by Thalia’s difficulties competing with ebooks and online bookselling and unquantified “restructuring” costs at the bookseller. But then shares soared on news of a possible buyout. CEO Henning Kreke “told analysts at a meeting on Thursday that Douglas had been approached by investors several times in recent years and that the Kreke family, which has a 12.6 percent stake in Douglas, decided to initiate talks over a buyout because it sees the company’s shares as […]
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At Shelf Awareness, Melissa Solberg has been promoted to sales director, and Autumn Sakai has joined the company as sales associate. Reginald Hill, creator of the Dalziel and Pascoe series of crime novels, has died at the age of 75. He won the Crime Writers Association’s Golden Dagger in 1990 and the Diamond Dagger in 1995. Author Paula Deen is reportedly preparing to admit that she has diabetes and is said to have an endorsement deal with Novartis, whose diabetes medication she takes. The Daily says Deen “has been trying to keep her condition a secret, even after the National […]
Executives Now Doubt that Digital Will Improve Their Corporate Prospects
Among the multiple presentations of original research at Digital Book World later this month, James McQuivey from Forrester Research will present a new version of the survey they conducted a year ago to assess publishing executives’ expectations on the digital transition. This year’s results (from publishers said to represent three-quarters of US publishing revenues) show a distinct ebb in digital optimism. In one of the biggest shifts, only 28 percent of publishing executives now think their own companies will be better off because of the transition to digital, versus 51 percent a year ago. McQuivey’s presentation at DBW will address […]