IDG Books, which acquired Cliffs Notes last Dec. 6 (News, Dec. 14), has expanded the brand's offerings beyond the school market by publishing 16 new titles in what it calls the Cliffs Notes lifestyle line. The line features 128-page Cliffs Notes in two categories-eight titles each in business and technology. All 16 titles, which have a suggested retail price of $8.99, are available in 2000 stores, and IDG Books expects to have the line in 10,000 outlets by January. An additional 16 titles are scheduled to be released in December.
As part of the brand extension, IDG Books is creating an online link to the guides on its www.cliffsnotes.comWeb site. In addition to offering such features as a free daily e-mail service, the site will permit customers to order a print copy of a book or download a title.
Mac Ref Sales: $82.9 Million
In documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission last month, IDG Books reported that Macmillan General Reference had revenues of $82.9 million in 1998 and net income of $1.5 million. IDG Books acquired Macmillan General Reference, which has about 3000 active titles, for $83 million earlier this summer (News, July 5). MGR had sales of $88.3 million and net income of $1.8 million in 1997.
For the first six months of 1999 ended June 30, MGR had sales of $40.1 million, compared to $37.2 million in the first six months of 1998. Its net loss rose to $277,000 from $229,000.
