Scholastic Earnings Up 1% In 4Q
Scholastic reported fourth-quarter earnings of $545.8 million, up 1% from 2010, and overall annual revenue for the fiscal year that ended May 31 of $1.91 billion, roughly level with last year. Results for 2011 reflected lower sales of educational technology in comparison to FY 2010, when earnings were buoyed by federal stimulus dollars, officials said, as well as increased strategic spending on digital initiatives in its children's book business, including its recently released READ 180 Next Generation reading program.
AAP Monthly Sales Report: Digital Climbs 147%
All major adult print segments—hardcover, paperback, and mass market—showed a decline in sales in May, according to the AAP's monthly sales report. While e-books showed a steep uptick of 146.9% for the month, bringing in $73.4 million in sales, adult hardcovers dropped 38.2%, adult paperbacks dropped 14.3%, and adult mass market fell 39.4%. For the calendar year, e-books brought in $389.7 million in sales, a 160.1% climb over the same period 2010. The few bright spots for the month, on the print side, came from YA paperbacks, which saw an uptick of 4.7% for the month; university press paperbacks, up 3.4%; and religion books, which were up 21.6%.
Concern over Google Settlement Negotiations
Lawyers for the parties in the Google Book Settlement asked U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin for more time to negotiate a revised deal, but in contrast to the last meeting in Chin's courtroom, the judge expressed concern about the lack of progress made by the parties so far, and seemed to question whether there was a deal to be made. Chin set another status conference for September 15, at 11 a.m., but warned the parties that if, at that time, a deal was not done, or close, he would put the case on a "tight discovery deadline," raising the possibility that litigation in the case could
resume.
Pottermore Inks Deal with Google
When J.K. Rowling's new Web site, Pottermore.com, goes live in October, U.S. visitors will be able to store their Harry Potter e-books in their Google Books libraries. Pottermore will be the exclusive place to buy Harry Potter e-books and digital audiobooks, and users will be able to buy those e-book editions from the Pottermore Shop, push them to their Google Books library, store them alongside other Google eBooks, and access them in the cloud (alongside their other Google eBooks) on virtually any device with a browser. In addition, the agreement names Google Checkout "the preferred third party payment platform" for all purchases made on Pottermore.com.
