Finance

Keep Prices High and Sell More Books (Profitably)
January 22, 2014

When sales decline, many publishers immediately lower their prices to seek new sales. This tactic can hurt short- and long-term profitability. A better tactic is to maintain a higher price and re-positioning your products. Perhaps the best source of ideas for doing that is your target buyers.

Publish And Be Branded: The New Threat to Literature's Laboratory
January 13, 2014

Increasingly fixated on the stars of today, such as Hilary Mantel and JK Rowling, publishers are neglecting the experimenters who could save their industry tomorrow: the mid-list writers.

The tickets sold out months ago. Long before the admiring reviews of the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies hit the press at the end of last week, theatre-goers were in no doubt they wanted to see six hours of blazing Tudor intrigue.

 

The Book Publishing Startup Problem
January 13, 2014

Two years ago at the Tools of Change conference in New York I was on a panel called "Startups to Publishing Companies Ripe for Expansion: What Are Investors in the Publishing Sector Looking For?".

Sophie Rochester was the moderator and she offered a balanced write-up of the session soon after. Her account of how the session began unmasked me to be the only negative voice in a crowd of boosters, "McIlroy...feels it's a very tough market. He explained that there are lots of companies looking for funding without success and believes that publishing is not a fertile ground for VCs,

Macmillan Acquires Cookstr
January 7, 2014

Macmillan has acquired cookbook and recipe Web site Cookstr. Founded in 2008 by Katie Workman and Will Schwalbe, Cookstr has reached as many as eight million unique visitors a month via its own consumer-facing recipe web site, as well as powering recipe searches in partnership with other organizations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Schwalbe, formerly senior v-p and editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books, and at William Morrow and Company, will stay on to lead Cookstr, as well as assuming the additional role of v-p of editorial development and content innovation for Macmillan.

Press Release: Scholastic Reports Fiscal 2014 Second Quarter Results
December 19, 2013

New York December 19, 2013 - Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education and media company, today reported results for the fiscal 2014 second quarter ended November 30, 2013. Revenue in the second quarter was $623.2 million, compared to $613.5 million a year ago.  The Company reported second quarter earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $1.80, versus $1.91 in the prior year period. 

Lagardere Announces Third Quarter Results
November 12, 2013

Lagardère released its 2013 third quarter results today. Highlights of the company's performance are as follows: At Hachette Book Group:  US sales were up 11% in "a particularly dynamic" third quarter, notes Lagardère's press release.  HBG had 191 print and 73 ebooks on the New York Times bestseller list thus far in 2013, with 45 #1 bestsellers to date, a 45% increase over the same period last year. 

HMH Sets Terms for $274 Million IPO
November 1, 2013

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which is a leading global publisher of educational content, primarily K-12, announced terms for its IPO on Friday. The Boston, MA-based company plans to raise $274 million by offering 18.3 million shares (100% insider) at a price range of $14 to $16. At the midpoint of the proposed range, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt would command a fully diluted market value of $2.1 billion.

Bloomsbury Results Show Ebook Contribution Growing
October 28, 2013

Strong financial performance at the UK's Bloomsbury Publishing shows both the contribution of ebooks to overall profits and sales at one typical modern publishing house, and the way in which the industry as a whole has evolved and adjusted over the past five years. Tipped by the UK's Daily Telegraph to rise in value due to its strong stock levels and 33 percent profit rise just announced in half-year results, as well as a "77 percent increase in Adult division adjusted operating profit"

Torstar Profit Plunges 44 Percent
August 5, 2013

Declining print revenue at its newspapers and fewer readers for its Harlequin novels pushed profit at Torstar Corp. 44 per cent lower in its last quarter. "It was a difficult quarter as decline in results were experienced in both the book publishing and media divisions," chief executive officer David Holland said in a statement. "Management of costs remains a priority and helped to mitigate the impact of the revenue decline experienced in the quarter."