Finance
Founded in 2012 to help freelance and unemployed journalists get published in newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals, the organization now wants to ensure that more books by such writers pass through the publishing pipeline.
Print Units Dipped 0.7% in Mid-December
Sales and earnings slipped slightly in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to the same time a year ago. The trade division saw a sales rise, and the company said it expects to hit its financial targets for the full fiscal year.
Print Units Slipped 1.3% in Early December
Helped by acquisitions, revenue at John Wiley rose 4% in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 and net income increased 2.1%. The company's academic and professional learning division was a soft spot, with revenue falling 6%.
Through the first nine months of 2019, sales of adult trade books were up 1.1% over the comparable period in 2018 for the publishers who report sales to AAP’s BookStat program. Sales in the children/young adult segment rose 8.0% in the same period.
Led by a solid quarter by Regnery, sales in Salem Media Group's publishing division rose 15.8% in the third quarter of 2019 over the comparable period last year.
Profits rose by $1 million at Simon & Schuster in the third quarter of 2019 over the comparable period in 2018, despite a 9% drop in sales. In last year's third quarter, Bob Woodward's 'Fear' drove strong sales for the publisher.
Profits dropped 28% at HarperCollins in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to the first period of fiscal 2019, while revenue declined 3%. Parent company New Corp expects HC's financial performance to improve starting in January, the second half of the fiscal year.
Revenue at Hachette Book Group fell marginally in the third quarter ended September 30, 2019, dipping just 0.3%, parent company Lagardère reported. One reason for the small decline was slowing sales of the longtime backlist bestseller 'You Are a Badass.'