Although the Harcourt trade division accounted for only about 2% of the $1.8 billion in total sales recorded by the publishing and education company in fiscal 1998, division president Dan Farley feels the unit has carved out its own special niche within the giant publisher. Farley told PW that "1998 was the third year in a row we showed the company that they made the right decision to retain a trade operation. I think we're seen as a valuable asset."
During the past three years, profits have more than doubled, and revenues are expected to top $50 million in fiscal 1999. In addition, 1998 marked the third time in this decade that Harcourt was the American publisher of the Nobel Prize for Literature winner -- Jose Saramago took home the honor last year, and Octavio Paz and Wislawa Symborska were earlier winners.
Harcourt was able to turn the eminence of Saramago's Nobel into sales, shipping about 60,000 copies of his most recent novel, Blindness, and 25,000 copies each of Saramago's backlist just before the close of its fiscal year in October. The division scored another editorial coup last month when senior editor Drenka Willen (who edited the three Nobel winners) won the 1998 PEN/Roger Klein Editorial Award for distinguished editorial achievement.
Farley made it clear that Harcourt will keep its focus on publishing serious fiction and nonfiction. "We're a midsize house that has a tradition of quality," he said, noting, "I'll match our translation list against anyone." Harcourt's impressive translation list has been built in large measure by Willen, who told PW that literary translation titles work at Harcourt because the house can give attention to the books. "Our marketing staff d s a first-rate job in finding the right niche" for Harcourt's international authors, Willen said.
Harcourt's attention to quality d s not preclude it from aggressively acquiring new authors. Among authors recently added are Morris West, Margaret Drabble, Ann Patchett and Howard Fast; the company has also added William Buckley and Martha McPhee to its hardcover list; both were previously published by Harcourt in trade paperback.
100 Titles Per Year
Harcourt's adult division publishes about 45 hardcovers and 55 trade paperbacks annually. Approximately half of the output of Harvest, the division's trade paperback imprint, are original titles. "We've had strong growth at Harvest," Farley said. The success at Harvest resulted in the promotion of Andre Bernard to editor-in-chief of the imprint. Bernard told PW his goal since joining Harcourt nearly three years ago has been to expand the range of the trade paperback list, while keeping the imprint's focus on quality. Among the categories in which Harvest specializes are history, science, politics and p try; the imprint is also adding more titles by American fiction writers.
Harcourt's adult hardcover operation is overseen by Jane Isay, who joined the company two years ago. Isay told PW her strategy is to "keep building on our strength in world fiction" and to "bring the kinds of nonfiction books that can gain the same kind of prominence as our fiction titles." The nonfiction list is strong in science and math, and Isay is adding narrative nonfiction, including the next title from Melissa Fay Greene, whose Praying for Sheetrock was published by Isay at Addison-Wesley.
The adult program has also benefited from the use of a number of veteran freelance editors, including Roger Donald, Cork Smith and Jim Silberman.
While the adult group has had steady growth, the children's operation still accounts for about 60% of the company's total revenues. The unit's main focus has always been on quality picture books, and that's where its attention will stay, according to children's group v-p and publisher Louise Pelan, whose 11 years at the company make her one of Harcourt's veterans. The division, which at one point published more than 200 titles annually, now releases roughly 175 books per year. Pelan believes Harcourt was able to ride out the slump in children's book sales in the mid-'90s due to its commitment to quality. "We have a clear vision of what we want to do," she noted.
Steady children's sellers for Harcourt include Stellaluna, On the Day You Were Born and Tell Me Something Good Before I Go to Sleep, all released under the Harcourt Brace imprint. The Gulliver imprint, while originally created to do more commercial books, has instead developed into another quality imprint, under the direction of Liz Van Doren. Van Doren "has given Gulliver more of its own identity," Pelan said. The company's Browndeer imprint is headed by Linda Zuckerman, who is based in Portland, Ore.; Seven Silly Eaters and One More River to Cross have done well for Browndeer recently. Silver Whistle Press, an imprint run by Paula Wiseman out of Harcourt's New York City office, was launched in 1997 and has had a hit with Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth. Paperback picture books are published through Voyager, and Magic Carpet is a young adult fantasy imprint.
Pelan is excited about the prospects for its Kipper picture books, written by British author Mick Inkpen. Harcourt has held the rights to Kipper for several years and is primed to take advantage of the exposure the character has received since Nick Jr. began running a series based on the character in February. Harcourt will release 10 Kipper titles in the fall; six will be reformatted editions of backlist titles and four will be new tie-ins to the TV show. Eight additional titles are set for spring 2000. Pelan believes the books will have broad appeal and expects them to do well at mass merchandisers and bookstores alike. Pelan thinks Kipper will give a boost to the company's mass merchandise imprint, Red Wagon. Another new project for 1999 is the Green Light Readers line, a beginning readers series done in collaboration with Harcourt's school group.
The big book for spring on the adult side is David Guterson's East of the Mountains, which has already shipped 500,000 copies in advance of its April 20 laydown date, said David Nelson, v-p and director of sales. Nelson's sales force sells both Harcourt's children's and adult lines.
The sales group includes seven in-house reps as well as four U.S. commissioned groups and a fifth in Canada. The unit also includes Roland Lang, who handles all of Harcourt's Internet accounts. "Our online sales more than tripled in the last year," Nelson told PW. Because of Harcourt's emphasis on quality fiction and p try, independent bookstores remain an important outlet for the publisher -- although the company is seeing more business from warehouse clubs for certain titles. Nelson has also been increasing the company's international sales operation and recently added a rep group to cover the Middle East and Far East.
Harcourt is considering adding a few distribution clients, but Farley noted that with "our combination of experience and new blood, growth can be achieved through our core businesses."
