The NY Observer seems to think Doubleday group publisher Steve Rubin should just retire already, what with the “devastation” of Jon Krakauer’s cancelled manuscript, disappointing sales for Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle, and having the world’s most successful adult novelist not yet ready to give a delivery date for his new book. And they’re miffed that Rubin is canny enough not to play the game with them: “So far, Mr. Rubin has remained silent on the matter. When approached by Pub Crawl for a profile last week, the onetime publishing reporter declined repeatedly to be interviewed and took impressive measures to […]
When Retailers Go Under
When times are good, retailers thrive during the holidays and when times are hard, the holiday selling season can be the springboard to bankrupty. Bloomberg explains, “In the last quarter century, about a fifth of large retailers that went bankrupt, including RH Macy & Co. Inc. and FAO Schwarz, did so in January, using holiday sales cash to jump-start reorganizations or finance liquidations.” But “this bankruptcy season is different. Retailers with reduced revenue or bloated debt are closing down early because of a consumer spending slump linked to the credit crunch, dwindling inventory values and restrictive changes in the bankruptcy […]
People
Egmont USA announced new hires including Greg Ferguson as editor (he was at Harper Children’s) and Nico Medina as managing editor (he was at Viking Children’s). The company has acquired 15 titles for their launch list, starting in fall 2009. Elsewhere, Elda Rotor has been promoted to editorial Director of Penguin Classics.
Riggio: Prepare for A "Terrible Holiday Season"
The WSJ reproduced an in-house memo to Barnes & Noble employees sent last week bychairman Len Riggio: “Never in all of the years I’ve been in business have I seen a worse outlook for the economy. And never in all my years as a bookseller have I seen a retail climate as poor as the one we are in. Nothing even close.” He warns, “we are bracing for a terrible holiday season, and expect the trend to continue well into 2009, and perhaps beyond.” Riggio announces that “new store openings will be curtailed greatly, and discretionary expenditures will be cut […]
Meanwhile Borders US Loses Credit Cover
Credit insurer Euler Hermes told publishers on October 17 that it was reducing its cover for vendors of Borders in the US to zero. The Bookseller, which has seen the document, reports that it “said the move is related to Borders Group’s continuing losses.” Recently, we’ve heard of major US publishers looking anew at whether to take out their own credit insurance policies to cover their inventory at Borders in the event of a bankruptcy. The policies can be very expensive, and in informal polling we’ve heard of one big six publisher that did take out a policy and one […]
Layoffs at Rodale
The company is cutting approximately 10 percent of its staff, comprising 111 employees in all. The Allentown Morning Call says that 73 of the cuts will come from their Emmaus headquarters; the remaining 38 are in New York and regional sales offices. Rodale says in a release it is “eliminating or consolidating positions in several of its divisions, including operations, IT, customer service and some publishing departments in order to shift resources toward its highest growth potential activities.” As the NY Post notes, “the job cuts come after the privately held company sought unsuccessfully to find a strategic partner to […]