News Shorts
Staff -- 8/7/00
iPublish.com Sets E-books List | Eberhard Out at NuvoMedia | Sales, Losses Jump at B&N.com
A Baking Book for the Masses | Trudy Searches for Financial Help | Profits Soar At Houghton
Gov't Wants More Info on MHC-Tribune Deal | NetLibrary Has Record Sales Month
McFeely Now Chairs Norton | Sales, Earnings Fall at S&S | Kunitz Named U.S. P t Laureate
iPublish.com Sets E-books List
Following Random House's announcement, iPublish. com wasted no time in releasing its own list of the electronic originals and e-book editions scheduled for publication in September. iPublish.com e-books will be available in all e-book formats and in POD print editions.
The 24 e-titles include a variety of commercial, business, popular science and literary writers, such as novelist David Foster Wallace, thriller writer David Baldacci and former New York Times reporter James Gleick. The books are priced from $4.95 to $14.95.
Claire Zion, editorial director of iPublish.com, said the list "offers a taste of the exciting e-books we'll have in coming months. We'll have new works by bestselling brand-name authors, original works by some of our most celebrated authors and exclusive content that maximizes the advantages of digital reading."
Among the September releases are an e-book original, Origins of Wish You Well by David Baldacci, a nonfiction account of writing his upcoming novel Wish You Well; and Up, Simba! by David Foster Wallace, an e-book original nonfiction account of a week spent on the road with former presidential contender Sen. John McCain.
--Calvin Reid
Eberhard Out at NuvoMedia
 | Eberhard: Leaves
company he founded |
Three years after launching the Rocket eBook, a handheld digital text-reading device and distribution system, and founding NuvoMedia Inc. to produce and market it, Martin F. Eberhard, CEO of Nuvo Media, has left the company. His departure comes about eight months after NuvoMedia, along with Softbook, a competing handheld device, were acquired by Gemstar International Group, a firm best known for its VCR programming technology.
Tom Morrow, a spokesperson for Gemstar/Softbook, told PW that Eberhard was "no longer involved in the daily operations of the company," but would be available as a consultant. There was no information on a likely successor or on Eberhard's plans.
Although Eberhard's Rocket eBook wasn't the first handheld reading device, through his aggressive marketing efforts it very quickly became one of the best-known platforms for reading downloadable books. Prior to founding NuvoMedia, Eberhard was cofounder and chief engineer of Network Computing Devices.
--Calvin Reid
Sales, Losses Jump at B&N.comCiting higher than expected expenses tied to the number of new initiatives begun in the period, Barnes&Noble.com reported a net loss of $45.4 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2000, compared to a loss of $22 million in last year's second quarter. Revenues in the quarter rose 76.4%, to $67.4 million, about $5 million less than what the company had forecasted, although B&N.com executives said they still expect sales to be between $335 million and $350 million by the end of the year. However, the higher expenses could result in a greater loss in the year than predicted, although the company said it remains committed to becoming profitable in the next 24 months.
Marie Toulantis, B&N.com chief financial officer, said that the new programs started in the last quarter "should more than make up for the second-quarter shortfall." Second-quarter initiatives included B&N.com's $20-million investment in MightyWords, the introduction of Barnes & Noble Television, the opening of its Memphis distribution center and the redesign of its site. Taken together, operating expenses in the quarter jumped 88.2%, to $62.1 million.
The results disappointed investors, and B&N.com's stock price fell to a 52-week low of $4.16 the day after the figures were released.
For the six-month period, sales doubled to $141.4 million and its net loss rose to $89.6 million from $42.1 million in the first half of 1999.
--Jim Milliot
A Book Fair Grows in Harlem
A crowd estimated at more than 5,000 eagerly surrounded the 90 exhibitors at the second annual Harlem Book Fair July 22. Visitors could chat with major book publishers (Warner Publishing CEO Larry Kirshbaum manned his company's booth for a while), small presses, self-publishers and a wide range of authors, editors and agents. Here, p t Sonia Sanchez and author Walter Mosley autograph their books. |
A Baking Book for the MassesWho hasn't taken a cake mix and added a little something to it to spice up the end result? Well, until The Cake Mix Doctor (Workman) by Anne Byrn, no one thought of doing an entire cookbook on making the most out of off-the-shelf baking.
Now the book is, um, selling like hotcakes.
The Cake Mix Doctor was one of the first projects for Bruce Harris when he joined Workman in the spring as publisher. "I thought it was kind of a cute idea, but I didn't expect it would have this kind of velocity or interest," Harris told PW. After eight printings in nine months, there are more than 360,000 copies in print. "The initial printing was 50,000," said Harris, "and we thought that was ambitious."
Publicist Jim Eber was enthusiastic enough about The Cake Mix Doctor that he bet publicity director Ellen Morgenstern that he could get 12 newspapers to cover the book on the front page of their food sections. By the last count Byrn and the book have made 37 front food pages in newspapers ranging from the Washington Post to the Kansas City Star. Byrn is a QVC darling, having been asked back four times. "She sold more than 20 books a second," said Eber. "That's 41,000 books in 30 minutes of air time."
Byrn, a journalist, conceived the idea for her book after she received an overwhelming response to an article she had written for The Tennessean called "The Cake Doctor Is In." She began collecting the recipes people sent to her and started to create her own. A sequel is already planned, but with all the media attention she's been getting, Byrn has not had a minute to work on it. Eber said people from all over the country want this book because it is so easy to follow and Byrn's suggestions work. When the author was on the radio in Des Moines, a listener called in to say she had one of the cakes in the oven right then. Now, that's a publicist's dream.
However, there was a time in the very beginning when Workman wasn't so confident about its summer hit. When Harris and Eber were meeting with Barnes & Noble, Harris thought it might be a good idea to bring a few samples along. A bakery would've charged a couple of hundred dollars for the order, so Eber volunteered to make the cakes himself. A Lemon Buttermilk Poppyseed Cake and an Incredible Melted Ice Cream Cake later, Workman had a substantial order on its hands.
--Bridget Kinsella
Trudy Searches for Financial HelpThe Trudy Corp., parent company of children's publisher Soundprints, has hired Financial Technology Research Corp. to perform various financial services, including assisting with the development of a business plan, designing an investor relations program and improving the company's access to capital. The move comes in the wake of the termination of a merger agreement between Trudy and Janex International (News, June 26).
The company's revenues for the year ended March 31, 2000, fell to $2.5 million from $3.4 million, although the net loss was cut to $1.0 million from $1.6 million in fiscal 1999. The decline in revenues was attributed in part to a delayed mailing of its Christmas catalogue and only sporadic shipments of books to the trade due to Futech's inability to pay for Trudy's inventory. Trudy took back the distribution of its titles from Futech in May.
Although the company has a working capital deficiency and negative cash flow, management is hopeful that an improvement in sales, a future merger and the ability to borrow money from its shareholders will allow it to continue to operate.
--Jim Milliot
Profits Soar At HoughtonKeyed by a 14.3% increase in sales to $203.7 million in its elhi publishing segment, total second-quarter revenues at Houghton Mifflin rose 13.5%, to $250.8 million. Net income in the period jumped 83.1%, to $15.3 million. HM chairman Nader Darehshori said the significant improvement in earnings reflected benefits from economies of scale as well as efficiencies that have resulted from investment in the company. Costs of goods sold came to 43.9% of net sales, compared to 46% in last year's second quarter, as manufacturing and editorial costs as a percentage of sales declined.
The gain in the elhi segment was led by sales increases at McDougal Littell, Great Source Education Group and Sunburst Technology, all of which benefited from strong sales to California. Sales in the college division were up 5.2%, to $23.0 million, while sales in the other segment, which includes the trade and reference group, increased 15.4%, to $24.1 million. HM reported that the trade and reference group had a strong quarter, while revenue from the sale of licensing publishing rights was up significantly.
For the first six months of the year, total revenues were up 14.4% to $349.3 million, and the net loss was cut to $24.1 million from $28.6 million in the first six months of 1999.
--Jim Milliot
Gov't Wants More Info on MHC-Tribune DealThe Justice Department has asked the McGraw-Hill Cos. for additional information to help with its review of MHC's proposed acquisition of Tribune Company's education division. In late June, MHC agreed to acquire the division for $634 million (News, July 3). Robert Evanson, president of MHC Education, said in a statement that the Justice Department's action "is a routine request and relates only to a small portion of the proposed transaction." He added that MHC still expects to complete the purchase before the end of the third quarter.
--Staff
NetLibrary Has Record Sales MonthAlthough critics of e-book publishing like to point out that the e-book market is still small or virtually nonexistent, netLibrary, an e-book wholesaler and Web content management firm, said that it had issued a record total of $700,000 in payments to publishers for the sale of e-books in June 2000.
Rob Kaufman, CEO of netLibrary, said the company has issued "millions of dollars worth of checks to publishers over the past four months." Kaufman said it proves that "e-books rapidly are gaining recognition and acceptance. Publishers providing their titles are elated that we have been able to tap new digital sales channels for their content." Nancy Talmey, netLibrary's COO, attributes the record monthly payment to new institutional accounts from the academic, corporate, public and special library market. "We are continually finding new markets for our publishers' e-books," she said.
NetLibrary distributes electronic editions of books from the MIT Press; Vicki Jennings, marketing director of the press, said she was initially unsure of the revenue potential for e-books. But now, Jennings said, "The payments and sales information we have been receiving each month are evidence that the institutional market for e-books is strong."
--Staff
McFeely Now Chairs NortonW. Drake McFeely, president of W.W. Norton since 1994, has been named chairman of the company following the retirement of Donald S. Lamm, after 44 years. McFeely has spent his entire career at Norton, joining in 1976 as a college sales rep and later becoming an editor, associate director of the college department and a member of the board.
In other news at Norton, editor-in-chief Starling Lawrence, another lifetime Norton man, has been named vice-chairman. Two new vice-presidents were also named: Daniel C. Bartell, national sales manager of the college department, and Lisa Gaeth, personnel manager.
--Staff
Sales, Earnings Fall at S&SSimon & Schuster reported its second straight weak quarterly results last week. Sales fell 8.6%, to $133.2 million, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) dropped 49.7% to $8.5 million. Sales and earnings were also down in the first quarter (News, May 1), and as a result, revenues for the first half of 2000 fell 8.4%, to $246 million, and EBITDA tumbled 70%, to $6.8 million.
In explaining the poor performance, an S&S spokesperson said, "This year is stacked differently than last year," when the company had a number of big hits early. A difficult marketplace and charges associated with S&S' transition to a standalone company also had a negative impact on results. The company is expecting a stronger second half of the year, led by a strong fiction list, as well as nonfiction titles from Stephen King and Stephen Ambrose and the first title in the new Simple Abundance series.
--Jim Milliot
Kunitz Named U.S. P t LaureateNational Book Award winner Stanley Kunitz, 95, has been appointed the 10th United States p t laureate. His appointment will begin in October, which is also when his publisher, W.W. Norton, will release The Collected P ms, Kunitz's 12th book of p try. Kunitz is working on another book.
Kunitz succeeds Robert Pinsky as p t laureate. His first p m was published in 1930, and his many honors include the Pulitzer Prize, a Ford Foundation Grant, a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, a senior fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Medal of the Arts.
He was a founder of P ts House in New York City, and has taught in the graduate writing program at Columbia University. From 1974 to 1976, Kunitz was consultant in p try to the Library of Congress, before that position became p t laureate.
--Staff
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