Scholastic Inc.

As we all know, the new norm is that in the next week there will be recorded a big surge in purchases in ebook reading hardware (including tablets, which are not just for reading). This will be followed, of course, by a surge in purchases of ebooks. But what about between the surges? What’s the new level of purchase? The assumption is certainly that each surge builds on itself to increase the overall level of ebook use and purchase… is this true?

Before this surge hits, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at just a couple of the countless reporting of statistics and opinions; and also at something that might have a big post-surge impact.

Rainforest Action Network has launched a campaign urging HarperCollins to end the use of fiber from controversial sources after it said that independent forensic tests found significant quantities of pulp from Indonesian rainforests in several of the publishing company’s books.

Mixed tropical hardwood and high-risk acacia fiber were found in HarperCollins’ bestselling children’s book “Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas,” RAN said. Acacia was also found in HarperCollins titles including “Splat the Cat: The Perfect Present for Mom and Dad” and “Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued from the Past,” the environmental group said.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), selected five books as finalists for the 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, which honors the best nonfiction books written for young adults between Nov. 1, 2011 and Oct. 31, 2012. YALSA will name the 2013 award winner at the Youth Media Awards at 7:45 a.m. on Jan. 28, in Seattle during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting.

Amazon’s new unlimited digital offering for kids, Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, is a very ambitious program. For a set monthly price, families get unlimited access to ebooks, movies, TV shows, educational apps and games aimed at 3-to-8-year-olds. Kindle FreeTime Unlimited works only on the newest Kindle Fires as an extension to Kindle FreeTime, the parental controls feature that lets parents set time limits on kids’ various uses of the tablet.

Experts in book app development and marketing gathered today at the Media App Summit in New York to talk tools for discoverability and profitability. Panelists stressed that discoverability begins with a quality product and understanding your target market.

"I know first-hand how painful discovery can be in the app marketplace," Matt Cavnar, VP of business development at Vook, told the audience. Publishers, he pointed out, often still have trouble getting traction for a good product in an environment where app creation has gotten easier and cheaper.

[PRESS RELEASE] New York, NY (November 29, 2012) 3Ž4Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced the publication of Year of the Jungle (September 10, 2013), an autobiographical picture book by Suzanne Collins, author of the worldwide bestselling The Hunger Games trilogy, with illustrations by James Proimos. Scholastic also announced plans to publish the trade paperback edition of Catching Fire (June 4, 2013, ISBN: 978-0-545-58617-7, $12.99), as well as re-packaged paperback editions of Collins’s bestselling The Underland Chronicles, a five-book series about Gregor the Overlander, featuring all new cover art (Summer 2013). Scholastic will publish and deliver the books through all of its distribution channels.

Shares of Scholastic (SCHL) plummeted more than 20% Wednesday morning as the children’s book publisher’s sharply dimmed 2013 earnings outlook spooked Wall Street.

Citing shrinking sales of higher-margin products and uncertainty caused by the fiscal cliff, Scholastic warned late Tuesday it now anticipates posting EPS from continuing operations of $1.40 to $1.60 for 2013, well off its earlier projection of $2.20 to $2.50.

Even the optimistic end of the new range would badly miss expectations on Wall Street for full-year EPS of $2.27.

Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced an agreement with Twin Sisters Productions, a leader in children’s educational books and music, to offer a selection of their musical and non-fiction books on Storia®, the teacher-recommended eReading app for kids. A collection of books from Twin Sisters will be available on Storia, through Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs beginning in Spring 2013. Available for free download on PC, iPad and select Android tablets (with more platforms to come later this year), the Storia eReading app, is specially designed to captivate kids while helping them become better readers. Storia offers thousands of titles for kids from toddlers through teens with more content being added weekly. Storia was recognized by Warren Buckleitner with the “Editor’s Choice Award” for children’s eBook apps and most recently was named one of the “Top 10 Best High-Tech Toys” of 2012 and one of the “Top 100 Best Toys” of 2012 by Dr. Toy.

No, not those National Book Awards. E.L. James will square off with the likes of Bernard Cornwell, Victoria Hislop and Kate Mosse in the Popular Fiction category of the U.K.'s  National Book Awards on Dec. 4 in London.

With more than 20 schools in New York City unable to reopen and dozens of schools in New Jersey still closed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced that it will donate one million books to schools and libraries in the hardest-hit areas of the tri-state region.  To help in the recovery efforts with support for the educators, families and students who have suffered losses, Scholastic is accepting book grant requests at www.scholastic.com/bookgrants and will provide new books and resources that will help get tens of thousands of students reading and learning again, despite severely challenging circumstances. Scholastic is grateful to be working with the nonprofit Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc., to help distribute the million books to the schools and libraries that need them the most.