In a note posted on its web site, the Poughkeepsie, NY-based wholesaler announces that they will close this Friday. (They are taking final orders today, and will “accept customer returns and process claims for damaged books” until the 23rd.) “A wholesaler, however committed to or respected by its customers, cannot be a wholesaler for very long without books. Over the course of the last year, we have not been able to raise the capital necessary to fund BookStream’s inventory in a way that compensates for never having established, after three years of being in business, trade credit commensurate with the […]
Smaller Publishers to Skip BEC, Too
Following the withdrawal of Canadian units of Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins from the Book Expo Canada trade show, other publishers are announcing that they too will skip the show this year. Scholastic Canada, H.B. Fenn and Company, and DK/Tourmaline tell Quill & Quire they will not exhibit. Executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers Carolyn Wood says, “I won’t write it off yet, but I won’t bet any big money on seeing a trade show this year.”Q&Q
People
Anne Brooks is joining Langenscheidt as executive director trade and special sales, leading a restructured group that puts all sales into one division. She reports to chief sales and marketing officer Michele Martin. Most recently, she was director of sales at Overlook Press.
Lunch Weekly for Monday, January 19
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 Author of SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME David […]
Pearson to Finish Strong
Riding the substantial decline of the pound against the dollar and a more diversified education business than some of their peers, Pearson confirmed in a short trading update that “we will report good growth and continued progress on our financial goals for 2008, despite the worsening macroeconomic environment” and “all of our businesses achieved or exceeded our guidance for 2008.” The company expects to report earnings growth of approximately 20 percent in early March, ahead of analysts’ estimates. Penguin “performed well, in line with our expectations, in a slower holiday trading season for the overall books market.” In their dominant […]
Another Big Indie Lost: Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops to Close
The Milwaukee-based group of four independent bookstores will close at the end of March after 82 years in business, president Carol Grossmeyer announced on Sunday. General manager Daniel Goldin is buying the store on Downer Avenue, which will be named Boswell Book Company. And Lanora Hurley, manager of the store in Mequon, “is in discussions” to acquire that location, which she would rename Next Chapter Bookshopm, the Milwaukee Sentinel reports. Grossmeyer told the newspaper, “This has been the most emotional six months of my life, and now it’s culminating in a decision that was coming for a while. You want […]