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Holt May Return to Black in '98
Jim Milliot -- 7/20/98
After enduring a painful 1997, when the company lost a not insignificant amount of money, Henry Holt president Michael Naumann told PW the company should do substantially better this year. If current sales trends hold, Naumann said, Holt will break even for the year -- and, with a little luck, it could even make a small profit.
Naumann attributed 1997's poor performance to a number of factors, including the structural problems in the industry faced by all publishers. "Returns overwhelmed all of us" last year, while hardcover sales again declined, Naumann said. In addition, a systems conversion in 1996 proved troublesome for Holt from the beginning. But the latter problem has been largely solved with the implementation of a new Vista system and the move to Holtzbrinck's new $30-million warehouse in Virginia.
The day Naumann spoke to PW, in fact, was the first day that Holt began shipping titles from its new facility, and Naumann had nothing but praise for the new operation in helping Holt to improve its back-office efficiency.
Naumann made it clear, however, that in addition to a smoother back office, Holt's rebound in 1998 can also be traced to a strong list. The company has already had two bestsellers, Sue Grafton's N Is for Noose, with more than 500,000 copies in print, and Are You Somebody by Nuala O'Faolain, and Naumann said Holt has a very strong summer and fall list as well. Among the titles that he expects to do well are The Maiden King: The Reunion of Masculine and Feminine by Robert Bly and Marion Woodman, plus a couple of thrillers, An American Killing and Easy Money, as well as a number of biographies, led by Isaiah Berlin: A Life.
Improvements in the adult operation notwithstanding, Naumann said the company's turnaround is being led by its Books for Young Readers division, which is enjoying a very strong year. The unit has received a boost from two Boston Globe-Horn Book winners, My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis and While No One Was Watching by Jane Leslie Conly.
Holt will publish a total of about 350 titles in 1998, down some 100 books over the last few years. One factor in trimming the list was the sale of its computer book operations and 21st Century Books. In the computer field, Holt "was a minor player with good books," while its school book unit "was too small to invest lots of dollars in marketing," Naumann said in explaining the divestiture of the two operations late last year.
According to Naumann, another key element in Holt's improvement has been the performance of the sales and marketing group, led by Maggie Richards, who joined the company at the beginning of the year. With all the changes Holt has made, Naumann is certain that gross sales will fall in the year (to around $55 million), "and the bottom line will be much improved.
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