In last hurrah, Random House books record profits

Thanks to bestsellers like Dan Brown's Inferno and Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, Random House Inc. boasted record profits for the first half of 2013, parent company Bertelsmann reported Friday in what will be the last earnings announcement for the publisher as a stand-alone unit. Sales, however, dipped slightly.Random House merged with Penguin on July 1 to become the Manhattan-based global publishing giant Penguin Random House.Compared to the same period a year ago, Random House revenue fell 3% to 915 million euros or $1.2 billion. Operating income rose 4% to 117 million euros or $155 million. A Penguin Random spokesman credited the increase in profits to "cost discipline" and strong sales growth overseas in ebooks, which have higher margins than print editions.The dip in sales revenue reflected the comparison with the unusually strong first half of 2012, when the Fifty Shades trilogy was topping bestseller lists. The "mommy porn" novels padded this year's sales as well, however, selling an additional 5 million copies in both print and digital editions.As a portion of worldwide sales, ebooks fell to 20% of the total from 22% a year ago, largely due to the drop-off from Fifty Shades, according to the spokesman.Penguin also recently reported solid results, with a 6% jump in sales and a 14% spike in profits for the first half. Penguin's parent company Pearson owns 47% of the merged company, with Bertelsmann owning the rest."We can all take pride in what we have... Continue reading at 'Crains New York'

[ Crains New York | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Random House Studio Sold to Fremantle Media

The film development unit Random House launched in 2007 (which was then called Random House Films), has been sold to Fremantle Media North America. Peter Gethers, longtime head of RH Studio, will stay on as an executive v-p at the newly owned unit. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘To Build Their Own Worlds’: Christopher Myers Launches a Random House Imprint

'Each untold story represents a world that has been erased,' says Christopher Myers on the announcement of his new imprint with Random House Children's Books. The post ‘To Build Their Own Worlds’: Christopher Myers Launches a Random House Imprint appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Record Number of Applications: Frankfurt Book Fair Announces Its 2016 Fellows

Applications from 100 candidates in 34 countries were received this year, Frankfurt administrators choosing 16 participants to become the fair's fellows in October. The post Record Number of Applications: Frankfurt Book Fair Announces Its 2016 Fellows appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Becomes First Licensee for GoldieBlox Brand

Starting in early 2017, Random House Children's Books will publish a series of eight original chapter books for girls 6–8 tied to the GoldieBlox toy brand. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House to Sell Fodor's to Internet Brands

Penguin Random House has reached an agreement to sell its travel division, Fodor’s, to Internet Brands, a Los Angeles-based online media and technology company. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Human Rights Watcher: PW talks with former Random House President Robert Bernstein

Distinguished former Random House President talks to PW about his new memoir 'Speaking Freely' and his work founding Human Rights Watch. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cambridge research fellow wins Pushkin House Russian book prize

Dominic Lieven, a senior research fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, has won the fourth annual Pushkin House Russian book prize for his work Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia (Penguin). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Germany Courts Romance Readers

Random House Germany recently launched an online community for romance readers and a literary festival to connect romance writers to their fans. The post Random House Germany Courts Romance Readers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lena Dunham Lands Imprint at Random House

Lenny, the feminist newsletter that the 'Girls' creator launched in 2015 with her producing partner Jenni Konner, will now form the basis of a book imprint at Random House, overseen by v-p and editor-in-chief Andy Ward. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH records revenue and profit jump

Penguin Random House global revenues rose 11.8% in 2015 to €3.7bn (up from €3.3bn the previous year), with operating EBITDA rising by 23.2% to €557m (€452m in previous year). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bertelsmann plans to raise stake in Penguin Random House

German media group reiterates plan to increase stake to 70-75% as full-year core profits climb 4.7%Bertelsmann has reported a 4.7% rise in full-year core profit and reiterated its plan to raise its stake in Penguin Random House, the book publisher which helped to drive the earnings increase. The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cuba’s Book Embargo Tackled by Trade With White House Petitions

Key figures in the American publishing community are unified in their call for a lift of the US embargo of Cuba as it pertains to books. The post Cuba’s Book Embargo Tackled by Trade With White House Petitions appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Highlights 2015 with Video

Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, added a video component to his annual year-end letter to employees this year which served to highlight the bestselling and award-winning titles the company published this year as well as the progress the company has made in the integration of Penguin... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ben Greenberg Named Exec Editor at Random House

Greenberg, who is currently executive editor at Grand Central Publishing, will join Random House on January 11. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House to Up Danielle Steel Output

The publisher has announced an accelerated publishing schedule for the bestselling author that will see the release of 12 Steel titles in 2016. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libby McGuire to Leave Random House at Year's End

Libby McGuire will be stepping down as executive v-p and publisher of Ballantine Bantam Dell at the end of the year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebershoff Leaving Random House

David Ebershoff, who has distinguished himself as both an editor of literary bestsellers and an author of them, is leaving his job as editor to focus on his job as author. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Kepler's Books Returned to Profitability

Kepler’s bookstore, once on the brink of closing for good, just celebrated its 60th anniversary. Its revival reveals some secrets about how bookstores might work in the future. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First Half Results Rise at Penguin Random House

Sales rose 16.2%, to 1.70 billion euros, and earnings increased 30.2% at Penguin Random House in the first half of 2015 over the same period in 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Germany drops hard DRM

German publishers are speedily bidding goodbye to Adobe DRM (Digital Rights Management) on their ebooks. What started as a trickle earlier this year has now become an unstoppable torrent with Random House Germany the latest (and largest) of the major publishing groups to exit hard-DRM. Citing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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