Investment Group Buys Recorded Books
The private investment group Wasserstein & Co. has acquired Recorded Books, the audiobook publisher and distributor of digital content to the library and retail markets.
Small Amazon Profit
Amazon’s fourth-quarter 2013 sales rose 20% over the last quarter of 2012, hitting $25.6 billion, while net income came in at $239 million, up from $97 million in last year’s final period. Total revenue for the year grew 22% over 2012, to $74.5 billion, and the e-commerce giant eked out a profit of $274 million, compared to a loss of $39 million in 2012.
PRH Names Exec Sales Team
Madeline McIntosh, U.S. president and COO of Penguin Random House, has named four executives to new cross-company sales leadership positions. Felicia Frazier, Jaci Updike, Katya Shannon, and Julie Black “will work to enhance and strengthen the existing Penguin and Random House sales teams,” McIntosh said in a memo. Joan Demayo will step down from her current position as senior v-p and director of Random House Children’s Sales and Special Markets to become an advisor to McIntosh.
Epic! Debuts Kids’ Subscription E-book Venture
Epic!, a subscription service offering access to a curated selection of children’s e-books for $9.99 per month, launched in January with about 2,000 titles.
Correction
In our Spring Announcements issue, two titles in the Sports category were attributed to the wrong publisher. Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman (Mar. 4) and The Hoops Whisperer: On the Court and Inside the Heads of Basketball’s Best Players by Idan Ravin (May 1) are being published by Gotham Books.
