As part of Bloomsbury’s global restructuring, co-founder and managing director of Berlin Verlag Elisabeth Ruge will be stepping down as of March 15th.Publishing Perspectives At Henry Holt and Company, Lauren Culley has been promoted to assistant editor. Marcus Gipps has been appointed editor at sci-fi and fantasy imprint Gollancz. Previously he was the sales and events manager for Blackwell’s. Linda Clark Associates has been appointed literary scout for Dalai Editore,Milan (formerly Baldini,Castaldi,Dalai) effective immediately. First Lady Michelle Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and a host of film, television and sports personalities will join the National Education Association today […]
Briefs: HMV Warns It May Violate Banking Covenants; Debts Owed to REDGroup Creditors; Lewis Sued for Defamation by Asset Manager; and More
As speculation mounts over whether minority stakeholder Alexander Mamut will buy Waterstone’s, the chain’s parent company HMV warned investors this morning that it expects to violate banking covenants as a result of full-year profits falling below expectations. While HMV said it was in talks with lenders to amend its credit loan agreements, which remain available, chief executive Simon Fox admitted in a statement that “trading conditions remain tough, reflecting a difficult consumer environment as well as the changing markets in which we operate.” He added that HMV “is adapting quickly to respond to these external factors, and we are confident […]
Pearson Freezes Libyan Government’s Minority Stake
In its earnings call yesterday Pearson admitted it was “uncomfortable” with the Libyan Investment Authority being its fifth-largest shareholder. Today the company announced it will freeze the LIA’s stake, valued at 3 percent last June but now at approximately 3.27 percent, or 26,572,179 shares. Pearson states that, per legal advice, “under The Libya (Financial Sanctions) Order 2011 (SI 2011 No. 548), Pearson considers that the ordinary shares in the company which are held by or on behalf of the LIA are subject to the Order and are therefore effectively frozen.” They have since informed the LIA and its nominees that […]
Random House Adopts Agency Model in the US
A year after the iPad–and the agency model–was launched, Random House is joining the other five largest trade publishers (whom we originally dubbed The Agency Five) and adopting that sales model for ebooks. They say in a statement: “Going forward, Random House will set consumer prices for the e-books we publish, and we will provide retailers with a commission for each sale.” The move by Random House to the new “industry standard” (for the large houses that have the leverage to use the agency model with Amazon) has been expected by those reading the quiet signals from the Random House […]
People, Etc.
At Penguin Young Readers Group, Casey McIntyre has been promoted to Senior Publicist. Baker & Taylor and De Marque will distribute French-language Canadian e-books through Blio. Bestselling thriller writer Karin Slaughter has launched a new non-profit organization, Save the Libraries, which will host fundraising events for various library organizations. The first such event, featuring Slaughter, Kathryn Stockett and Mary Kay Andrews, will take place on March 12 in Atlanta to benefit the DeKalb County System. A second event benefiting the Boston Public Library is scheduled for June.
Penguin Gains, As Margin Moves to 10 Percent
Pearson delivered the strong results for 2010 that they have been predicting, as Penguin “achieved record sales and profits in a challenging and rapidly-changing industry environment.” The trade publishing division had sales of 1.053 billion pounds (up 5 percent from a year ago, and 2 percent on a constant-exchange-basis) and profits grew even more, at 106 million pounds up 26 percent from a year ago. And those margins “were struck after making additional provisions for a number of credit exposures in the book retailing sector, including in relation to Borders in the US.” eBook sales were 6 percent of Penguin’s […]