Finance

With all of its operating groups reporting sales gains, revenue and profits hit record levels in 2022 at Simon & Schuster. CEO Jonathan Karp called the year "stratospheric."

Total online sales across print, e-book, and digital audiobook formats rose 5.6% in 2022, to $12.13 billion, according to Bookstat. The service collects online sales data in real time from Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble.

With a full year of sales from its purchase of Workman Publishing in its pockets, Hachette Book Group saw revenue rise over 2021, but higher costs dropped profits. Results at HBG parent, Lagardère Publishing, followed a similar pattern.

HarperCollins has reached a tentative agreement with its striking union that includes an unspecified increase in minimum salaries. The deal was announced shortly after the publisher reported that sales fell 14% in the quarter ended December 31, and that profits plunged 52%.

Sales from publishers reporting to the AAP's StatShot program were down 6.4% in 2022 compared to 2021. Sales were down in all publishing categories, with print sales off in both trade segments.

Revenue rose at Amazon in 2022 over 2021, but profits declined, with sales in the company's online business falling for the fourth time in five quarters. The company plans to cut 18,000 jobs worldwide.

Skybound Entertainment has launched a massive campaign to raise up to $75 million directly from the public via a Regulation A investment round on the Republic equity crowdfunding platform.

Sales in both the adult and children's/young adult categories fell by double digits in November, due in part to soft hardcover sales.

Educational Development Corp. continues to work through a host of issues since its sales and earnings peaked in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021.

After two years of surprisingly strong sales during the pandemic, unit sales of print books fell 6.5% in 2022 compared to 2021 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan.