Sunday, February 25, 2018

Publishers Lunch


Today's Meal


Pearson reported full-year results for 2017 on Friday morning. The most significant news was official confirmation that, as the company suggested last May, they will indeed sell off their US K-12 courseware publishing business. They are "in discussions with potential buyers regarding a disposal of the business." That will be the last big step in the company's strategy that if they sell enough of their disparate parts, what's left behind will finally, a few years down the road, perform well. The new euphemism for this is "simplification," which they say will make them a "leaner and more agile business."

At Penguin Random House, where Pearson just provides a modest indication of performance ahead of Bertelsmann's full report, sales were "in line with our expectations with revenues up slightly on a headline and underlying basis year on year on rising audio sales, broadly stable print sales, and modest ongoing declines in demand for e-books." A year ago, Bertelsmann reported that PRH sales for 2016 fell 9.9 percent to €3.059 billion, and for the first half of 2017 Bertelsmann
reported book publishing sales as just above flat.

For more on Pearson's results, visit PublishersMarketplace.com.


Bookselling
Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company will open a location at Sea-Tac Airport in 2019 in association with the Hudson Group. Located on Concourse C, the store will feature Northwest authors, as well as staff picks, bestsellers, and new releases.

Children's bookstore
The Brain Lair will open in South Bend Indiana in November. Owner Kathy Burnette plans to "look to smaller publishers with diverse lists, like Lee & Low Books and Akashic Books, as well as larger publishers that have diversity-specific imprints." In addition to titles for young people, the store will carry select adult titles and some gifts.

Awards

The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation have named the shortlists for the J. Anthony Lukas Prizes. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 10 Columbia Journalism School.

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