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 ]
Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 07:45 Egmont UK remains acquisitive but is predicting a "flat" year ahead. The specialist children's publisher reported sales down nearly 8% at £45.9m for the 12 months to 31st December 2010 (£49.7m in 2009) although pretax profits... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The nation's largest book publishers are facing increasing pricing pressure on the digital front as the number of cheap, self-published digital titles gain popularity with readers seeking budget-minded entertainment. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the first step of a two-phase launch, the long-awaited Los Angeles Review of Books has debuted its preview site at lareviewofbooks.org with essays and reviews by Ben Ehrenreich, Geoff Nicholson, Jane Smiley, Jefferson Hunter, and Richard Prince. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here's a clever idea from Chris Dixon: The investor and entrepreneur has turned his well-read blog into an ebook. Dixon, who runs Hunch and helps steer Founder Collective's bets when he's not blogging, has taken a couple years' worth of posts and compiled them into "Startups; Dixon's proceeds... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced on Monday that on May 24, it would publish "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin," an account of Ms. Palin's time as governor and as a vice-presidential candidate, written by Frank Bailey, one of her former aides. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The two reports measure different aspects of the book market and one is far more comprehensive than the other, but figures released last week by Nielsen BookScan and the Association of American Publishers showed a trade market where ebooks are thriving and print books are struggling. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:19 Authors including Iain M Banks and Michael Moorcock have written to the BBC's director general Mark Thompson, attacking the treatment of genre fiction in its recent World Book Night coverage. In total 85 authors, across the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 09:05 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 15:56 Hay House is to publish the "extraordinarily candid but heart-warming" autobiography of actor Stephanie Beacham, best known for her role as Sable Colby in the 1980s TV soap Dynasty. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 16:09 A libraries boss has admitted cutting spending on books is "the easiest" way to achieve savings, as wholesaler Bertrams reports its library sales have slumped by a quarter. Results put out by parent Smiths... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 09:21 Profits at HarperCollins surged £25.3m due to "exceptional rights income" in its most recent set of financial results filed at Companies House. For the year ending 30th June, operating profit increased to £29.1m. Turnover was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page, Philip Jones and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 09:28 Bricks and mortar bookshops in the United States face a grim future, with the heaviest book buyers choosing to buy digitally, delegates at London Book Fair were told. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 08:00 Beautiful Books has signed exclusive world rights at London Book Fair with The Real Man Pizza Company to produce a series of cookbooks. The deal was signed between managing director Simon Petherick and Real Man m.d. Tom... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 2009, the number of self-published books released in the US exceeded the number of new titles from conventional publishers for the first time in history. Now, a similar pattern is emerging overseas. Until recently, costly transatlantic shipping, different trim sizes and business models, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Until recently, reading a book had resisted technological advances, but like everything else, this has started to evolve and now we are embracing technology. Books are now more easily available in electronic format and sharing your opinion about a title print or ebook is more popular. So... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 11:35 New awards for Best Racing Book and Best Sports Book Retailer will be up for grabs at this year's British Sports Book Awards 2011. W H Smith, Amazon, Waterstone's and Foyles are all in the mix to win the best sports retailer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Russia the market focus country at the Fair, Russian publishers will be at Earls Court in force and there will be many associated literary and cultural events. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two divisions of Random House that exist across the pond from each other are launching a fiction imprint that will share a close but non-exclusive editorial relationship. The Crown Publishing Group in the U.S. and Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Vintage Publishing, which is a division of The... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:40 Book sales have slumped on both sides of the Atlantic as the British and American markets experienced year-on-year declines in the first quarter of 2011. Book sales in the UK were down 3.1% to £324m, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This year's London Book Fair is taking place at a time of unique change. The shift from the printed word to the downloaded text is accelerating; chains and standalone bookstores are closing down around the world; and the very future of the book "entity" is being challenged by commentators and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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