Bloomsbury USA Up
Sales increased to £18.8 million ($28.4 million) from £17.3 million at Bloomsbury USA in 2009, and profits increased to £450,000 from £380,000 in 2008, according to parent company Bloomsbury. Sales were helped by the launch of the Bloomsbury Academic and Professional division; in 2010 the AC Black academic list will begin to be sold by the Bloomsbury sales team.
Total revenue for Bloomsbury fell to £87.2 million, from £99.9 million in 2008, and profits fell to £5.0 million, from £7.8 million, due to the recession and lack of any kind of new Harry Potter title (there was a paperback in 2008).
Solid Quarter For Scholastic
Total sales at Scholastic fell to $398.8 million in the quarter ended February 28, from $423.6 million in last year's comparable quarter. The sales decline was attributed to strong sales last year of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and results were ahead of expectations. The company's net loss in the quarter was trimmed to $5.6 million from $36 million.
Sales were best in the educational segment, up 18%. Sales in children's book publishing and distribution fell 16%, to $192.1million. The largest decline came in the trade segment, off 38%; book club sales fell 14%, to $79.1 million; sales in book fairs dipped 2%, to $77.0 million.
For the nine-month period, total Scholastic sales were up 1.5%, to $1.37 billion, and the company posted a net income of $26.9 million, compared to a loss of $42 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2009.
Streisand to Headline BEA
Barbra Streisand will take the stage at the Opening Night Keynote Reception on May 25 to officially kick off BEA 2010. Streisand will be interviewed about her first book, My Passion for Design, which Viking will publish on November 16. Any registered attendee may come to the reception, which will be Streisand's first appearance on behalf of the book. My Passion for Design: A Private Tour is a $60 hardcover that focuses on the architecture and construction of Streisand's newest homes.
BEA Self-Publishing Confab
BookExpo America plans a BEA DIY (Do It Yourself) Authors Conference & Marketplace, to take place at the Javits Center in May. The DIY event will take place the day before BEA opens, on Monday, May 24.
Jewish Group Calls for Book's Boycott
For the second timein four years, a Jewish group is calling for the removal of a title published by Canadian house Groundwood Books from reading lists at schools and libraries. Anne Laurel Carter's novel The Shepherd's Granddaughter tells the story of a Palestinian girl and her family who are threatened by encroaching Jewish settlements. B'NaiBrith called the book “anti-Israeli propaganda” and “one-sided.” The book has won eight literary awards, and the Ontario Library Association has said that to remove the bookfrom schools would be “censorship.”
Vook Debuts 19 iPad Titles
Mixed-media book publisher Vook is releasing 19 titles on the iPad. The vooks' prices vary, from 99 cents to $9.99.
