If you thought Big Tech’s dreadful year of layoffs would be confined to 2023, you’re (sadly) mistaken. Audible laid off around five percent of its employees on Thursday, which Variety reports is “just over 100 staffers.” The cuts in the audiobook division are part of parent company Amazon’s most recent round of layoffs, also affecting Prime Video, MGM, and Twitch. “We did not take this route without considerable thought,” Audible CEO Bob Carrigan reportedly said in an audio memo delivered to staff. “But getting leaner and more efficient is the way we will need to operate now — and in the foreseeable future — in order to continue delivering best-in-class audio storytelling to our customers around the world.” For those keeping score, “leaner and more efficient” echoes the language in numerous recent Big Tech layoff announcements. Variations of “In these uncertain times...” have also been popular. Carrigan ironically began by talking about Audible's strong performance last year. “I want to acknowledge the strong year we had in 2023, in which we delivered amazing listening experiences for our customers thanks to outstanding collaboration with creators and partners,” he reportedly said. “Our business is in good shape, and that is because of the hard work of each and every one of you.” The CEO extolled how much the company values its workers. “A big part of what makes working at Audible so special is our many talented and dedicated employees who bring their passion to work each... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-01-11 22:00:11 UTC ]
2016 ended up being one of Diamond's best years ever, thanks to strong sales of the titles in Rep. John Lewis's March trilogy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 18-strong shortlists for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2017 show a strong presence from independent Chicken House as well as publishers Hachette and Penguin Random House. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of spoof humour books helped W H Smith to achieve a “strong” performance over its Christmas trading period, with the company’s chief executive Stephen Clarke saying that group profit growth for the year is now “slightly ahead of plan”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books by Maggie O’Farrell, Kit de Waal, Kate Tempest and Francesca Simon are among those shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Book Awards, in a strong year for women writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Effective implementation of technology will let companies react to new opportunities Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From the opening keynote with Zadie Smith to the closing lunch with Douglas Preston, the energy at the 43rd annual NEIBA fall conference never failed. In part booksellers were buoyed by a strong year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Helped by a strong performance in its cloud services group, Amazon reported an operating profit of $1.1 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 compared to $255 million in the 2015 first quarter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tastemade has had quite a year. The company, known for its quirky short-form videos about food, travel and lifestyle topics, hit the 100 million monthly active users mark, with more than 1 billion monthly views. On Facebook alone, Tastemade grew its audience from around 100,000 fans to more... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2015-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury Publishing's sales grew 13% in the first half of the year, boosted by a particularly strong performance from the children’s and educational department. For the six months ending 31st August 2015, turnover totalled £52.7m, 13% higher than £46.6m for the same period in 2014. Adjusted... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Magician series among children’s books boosting revenue at publishing house, with pre-tax profits at £1.9m Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury has reported a jump in half-year sales after a strong performance from educational and children’s books. Sales were up 11.6% to £52.7m in the six months to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eleven months of results from Harlequin helped to offset the strong performance of Divergent in fiscal 2014 giving HarperCollins a 16% increase in revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015 over fiscal 2014 while EBITDA rose 12%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Benelux countries put in a strong performance at the second London Book Fair International Excellence Awards last night, taking a hat-trick of prizes. The post Winners of the LBF International Excellence Awards 2015 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House delivered a "strong performance in its first full year after the merger", media group Bertelsmann has said. Penguin Random House chief executive Markus Dohle said the combined businesses had "made a powerful statement: We are stronger together" describing 2014 as "a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A strong performance from HarperCollins and the acquisition of Harlequin has boosted parent company News Corp's quarterly results. Revenue for publisher's worldwide operation for the second quarter of the financial year, covering the three months to December 31st 2014, increased 20% from $391m... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Based on the number of indie booksellers that have announced plans to expand in the coming year—five this week—it’s clear that 2014 has been a strong year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has seen a fall in revenue and profits for the first half of 2014, with the adult publishing division down following a strong performance in the previous year. For the six months ending 31st August 2014, the publisher had turnover of £46.6m, down 5% from £49.2m in the same period in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Venture capitalists poured more money into Internet companies last year than they have since the dot-com bust, according to a survey published Friday.Internet companies in the U.S. took in US$7.1 billion from VCs in 1,059 deals in 2013, the highest level of Internet investment in terms of... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In his closing remarks, Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boos said that 2011 was a strong year for startups at the fair. Among those startups, perhaps none had a better reception than Small Demons, in Los Angeles. We couldnt have asked for a better first Frankfurt Book Fair, Small Demons... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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