Wiley reported sales of $402 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, up three percent. Adjusted net income of $30.2 million benefited from lower debt financing costs on the big Blackwell’s acquisition and a $4.6 million insurance settlement. CEO William Pesce notes in the release that the year “began as expected. Scientific, Technical, Medical, and Scholarly and Higher Education reported year-on-year growth, while Professional/Trade was down from last year’s strong first quarter.” The professional/trade line had $102 million in sales, down three percent from a year ago, as contribution to profit fell 24 percent to $19.5 million. “A […]
Booker Shortlist Announced
What a “shock.” As usual, manufactured “surprise” is the fuel of the Booker publicity machine, as the “longlist” turns out to be a head fake for the real shortlist; Salman Rushdie and John Berger did not make the final cut nor did Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44, which served its purpose just by being held up as a possible nominee. Also left aside were the overrated Netherland by Joseph O’Neill and books by Gaynor Arnold; Michelle de Kretser; and Mohammed Hanif. That leaves your finalists of: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (Atlantic) Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber) […]
Rowling Wins over RDR, but Judge's Ruling Is Mixed
Judge Robert Patterson agreed that author JK Rowling would face irreparable harm from RDR Books’ proposed publication of the HARRY POTTER LEXICON and ruled in her favor in the copyright infringement suit brought by Rowling and Warner Bros. Patterson said the publisher “had failed to establish an affirmative defense of fair use” and issued a permanent injunction against publication–but since the book had not been issued yet, he awarded minimum statutory damages of $6,750. In the full opinion, Patterson walks a fine line through the nuanced arguments made in the case. He acknowledges that “reference works that share the Lexicon’s […]
Publishing People
At Lerner Publishing Group, Andrew Karre has been hired as editorial director of Carolrhoda Books, working out of Minneapolis. He was an acquiring editor for Llewellyn’s YA imprint Flux. In Lerner’s New York office, Carol Burrell is being promoted to editorial director of Graphic Universe, working on graphic novels with an educational appeal. The company says it plans to “enhance the identities of Carolrhoda Books and Graphic Universe by strengthening its program of publishing award-winning picture books, middle-grade fiction, graphic novels, young adult fiction, and unique nonfiction trade titles.” Karen Rice has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade & reference division […]
New Adobe Software Protects ePub Files
Adobe announced their Content Server 4 for release on September 22, “a new server software solution that copy protects downloadable eBooks for Adobe Digital Editions” in pdf and ePub formats. Developed “in concert with” over 30 publishing-related partners, the new software “improves file security and flexible permissions, as well as retail and library lending support.” The ePub support is billed in particular as allowing publishers to “securely distribute reflowable digital content to the smaller screens of mobile devices.” Press release
Since They Aren't Selling, Let's Give Them Away
John Warner, editor of McSweeney’s online, author of So You Want to Be President? and Fondling Your Muse, and “Creative director of the struggling TOW Books” writes on Maud Newton’s blog about his new initiative to give away PDFs of four books from his humor imprint to help spread the word. “The sad fact, and I’m afraid that it is a fact, is that the reason we’re struggling is because very few people even know our books exist…. After two years of, let’s call it, non-success, I understand that the problem is at least as much about publicity and distribution […]