Vanessa Mobley and Lorraine Glennon are joining Broadway reporting to recently-hired publisher Diane Salvatore, starting August 3. Mobley had most recently been at the Penguin Press. Glennon was books editor and senior articles editor at Ladies Home Journal. Webb Younce is leaving Holt and moving to Frankfurt where he will acquire English-language books at Suhrkamp Verlag. At Langenscheidt, Christine Ramos has been promoted to marketing director, and Gina Garza has been promoted to publicity director. Christian Frederking has joined Thames & Hudson as Sales and Marketing Director, an appointment that will take effect after this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.
Amazon Media Sales Stop Growing
As Amazon’s sales keep growing, the company is taking a hit on the income side. For their second quarter, sales rose 14 percent, to $4.65 billion, but operating income feel 27 percent at $159 million and net income fell 10 percent to $142 million. Among the hits to earnings were $51 million in their legal settlement with Toys R Us, and $30 million blamed on foreign exchange (but they had a $53 million non-cash gain from the sale of European dvd rental assets). While those sales grew overall, in the segment we all care about–media–the decelaration was dramatic. North American […]
Lagardere's Publishing Continues to Grow, With a "Slowdown" In June
Lagardere released a brief summary of sales (but not profits) for the first half of their fiscal year. The publishing division recorded revenues of 546 million euros for the quarter, up 10.4 percent compared to a year ago, with sales for the first half of the year at 1.009 billion euros. “The success of the Stephenie Meyer saga was unabated,” they report, though there was a “slowdown in growth in the month of June due to robust sales in June 2008 when two novels by James Patterson were published.” Similarly, comps for the second half of the year will have […]
Scholastic "Approximately Level" with Last Year Except for Foreign Exchange
Scholastic reported sales from continuing operations in their fourth quarter of $496 million with the decline of 5.4 percent attributed primarily to foreign exchange. Earnings from continuing operations of $32.2 million were up 7 cents a share (at 88 cents) while net income improved considerably, at $27.7 million, compared to a loss of $10.7 million a year ago. In their children’s book publishing and distribution division, sales fell $13.3 million to $249.3 million, on “lower revenue from clearance sales in School Book Fairs, as well as lower Harry Potter sales in trade compared to a year ago.” Segment operating income […]
Houghton Gets a Trade Publisher in Bruce Nichols, and More People News
In what many may view as a sign of at least temporary stability for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s adult trade lines, the unit has filled the vacant position of publisher. (Adult trade publisher Becky Saletan resigned last December and was not replaced.) Bruce Nichols–who saw his position as publisher of the Collins imprint diminished in the reorganization at HarperCollins in February that left him as publisher of the smaller Collins reference line and executive editor at Harper–will take the role as svp, publisher of of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Adult & Reference Group on August 3. HMH trade & reference president Gary […]
Data Coup: USA Today Bestseller List to Include Kindle Sales Data
As of today’s list, USA Today’s weekly tabulation of bestselling books incorporates data on Amazon Kindle book sales as a component of their rankings. Significantly, it’s the first outside list to which Amazon has contributed Kindle sales data. Amazon’s Laura Porco says in the announcement: “We are thrilled to be contributing Kindle book sales information to USA Today for their comprehensive bestseller list for books customers. Given the great overlap of taste between Kindle customers and physical book buyers, the USA Today Best-Selling Books List is truly reflective of what customers are buying regardless of format.” Among the open questions […]