Solid Quarter at Scholastic

Sales rose 3%, to $685.3 million, and net income increased 10.5%, to $82.8 million, in the second quarter ended November 30 at Scholastic. The gain was driven by a more than 30% increase in Scholastic’s educational technology and service segment and a 12% increase in the classroom and supplemental materials publishing group. Sales in the children’s book publishing and distribution group rose by less than 1%, to $388.6 million.

October Book Sales Drop

After gains in August and September in the wake of Borders’s closing sales, bookstore sales fell 6.6% in October, to $886 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite the drop in October, bookstore sales for the first 10 months of 2011 were up 2.0%, to $12.91 billion.

Reader’s Digest Cuts 150 Jobs

Reader’s Digest’s latest restructuring eliminated 150 positions across all of its worldwide operations including books. The cuts are part of an effort by RD to refocus on its core “Master Brands.” Harold Clarke continues as president and publisher of the book group.

Moran Steps Down as Whitman Publisher

Josalyn Moran, v-p of publishing at Albert Whitman since 2010, is stepping down and will transition into an advisory role, effective January 1, 2012. Moran will be based in St. Louis.

Authors Guild Files in Google Case

On December 12, attorneys for the Authors Guild filed a motion for class certification, hitting the deadline set by Judge Denny Chin at a September conference on the abandoned Google settlement. The filing could lead to a ruling on whether Google’s book scanning is copyright infringement.

Agency Lawsuits Consolidated

Five class action lawsuits aimed at the big six publishers, Amazon, and B&N alleging a price-fixing conspiracy over implementation of the agency model for pricing e-books have been consolidated and will be handled in the Southern District of New York.

World Book Night Advances

Last week, World Book Night U.S. announced the 30 titles that “book givers” will be giving away for free on April 23 and also announced that a registration page has been created at www.us.worldbooknight.org, where volunteers can register through February 1, 2012, by providing answers to several questions.