Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Deidre Berry’s THE NEXT THING, to Selena James at Dafina, in […]
New Child Safety Regulations Postponed for a Year
On Friday the Consumer Product Safety Commission approved a one-year stay of enforcement of the newly added certification and testing requirements for manufacturer and importers of products for children. They note: “The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the crafters, children’s garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission.” Among the new regulations to which the stay does not apply are the ban on small […]
Boston Catches on to Houghton's Debt Burden
The Boston Globe has a long piece on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s financial challenges, though there’s little that is new in the piece. Spokesman Josef Blumenfeld now says that “since Houghton’s reported decision last fall to suspend acquisition of new titles, it is signing new books again.” Former Houghton Mifflin ceo Nader Darehshori’s appraisal is that “the debt is so overwhelming, there’s just no way. They borrowed more than the value of the company. They will be lucky if the value is half of what they owe.”Globe
Layoffs at Hyperion Parent
On Thursday, Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney told employees that the division would eliminate 200 jobs spread throughout the group’s units and would leave another 200 open positions unfilled. The division employs almost 7,000 people in all. Hyperion is part of the group–but publisher Ellen Archer tells us there have been no layoffs at the book publishing unit.LAT
People
Gary Heidt has left FinePrint Literary Management to form Signature Literary Agency in partnership with Ellen Pepus in Washington, DC. Pepus worked at Graybill and English before starting her own agency. At the Simon & Schuster imprint, assistant managing editor Michael Szczerban in now an assistant editor, reporting to editor-in-chief Priscilla Painton. Kate Ankofski has been promoted to assistant editor.
Amazon Beats the Street (and Passes BN)
Anaysts exected Amazon to stumble in the fourth quarter due to the economy and the etailer surprised investors with another strong report card. Sales increased 18 percent to $6.70 billion as operating income was flat at $272 million. Net income rose 9 percent to $225 million in the fourth quarter, or 52 cents per share. (Analysts were expecting only 39 cents a share, and sales of $6.44 billion.) For the coming quarter, the company expects sales to continue growing from between 9 percent and 19 percent. North American media sales (defined as sales from all sellers in categories such as […]