Hastings: New Books Down, Used Books Up With its exposure to the sinking music business, Hastings’ turned in a soft second quarter, as same-store book sales fell 3.2 percent compared to last year. But the worst news is that the absence of $1.7 million in Harry Potter sales was “partially offset by increased sales in all used book categories.” Release Personnel News Jill Schwartzman is moving to Random House Trade Paperbacks as a senior editor later this month, reporting to Jane von Mehren, and acquiring both paperbacks and hardcovers. She will focus on “finding new voices for younger readers.” Schwartzman […]

We Resume In case you didn’t notice (or didn’t see our notice last Monday) Lunch was at rest last week, but the kitchen is open again this week. Should you ever have questions about whether you’ve missed a particular issue, just check the Lunch Archive at PublishersMarketplace.com. Every time Lunch Deluxe is published, we post it there at the same time we send out the e-mails — and there’s a handy searchable archive of almost 5 years worth of Lunches there, too. NYC Threatens Suit Over 9/11 Photo Book John Botte’s forthcoming book AFTERMATCH: Unseen 9/11 Photos by a New […]

Our Usual Reminder If for some reason this has reached you even though you are not a paying member of PublishersMarketplace, please visit the link below to join us all the time for complete deal reports and more. Click to register http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register.shtml 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 […]

Please Note Most likely, there will be no regular Lunches this week. As usual, PublishersMarketplace.com will be working at full pace, with new deals, new jobs, and linked news items from the home. (If you’re one of those members who rarely visits the site itself, just go to the login page — which has a password reminder feature in case you’ve forgotten your data — or contact your company administrator for corporate logins.) Login page 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 […]

Dubious Judge Sets Da Vinci Appeal Parameters The appeal of the case against Random House UK over the DA VINCI CODE brought by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh will have three days of hearings, determined at a preliminary hearing this week. Those proceedings have not been scheduled yet, but are likely for January, the BBC reports. BBC Private Equity Eyes Penguin, and Others? Reuters runs a splashy story about private equity firms — including UK-based Cinven, Candover and Permira — considering bids for a trade publisher. The focus of this UK-generated story is a possible, potential, theoretical, rumored offer to […]

One Record Stands At Harper, Even As Sales Slide Reporting results for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year, Harper continued its streak of record-setting earnings, earning $167 million for the year (up $3 million from last year), even as sales for the year fell modestly, to $1.312 billion (from $1.327 billion a year ago). A soft quarter — their second in a row — may have dampened results. Sales of $256 million were down over 10 percent ($30 million) from a year ago, and the company posted an operating loss of $6 million for the period, an $18 million […]