Despite the seemingly interminable election process, the ongoing war in Iraq, shifting reading tastes, escalating advances and even bad weather, it's turned out to be a year of triumph and profit for Simon & Schuster, according to S&S president Jack Romanos in his annual year-end letter. And much like its larger competitor Random House, S&S is also taking a long look at selling books directly to consumers.
S&S will close the year having "exceeded our financial goals in gross sales, net sales and profits," Romanos wrote, "with double-digit gains in both revenues and profits."
A host of political books and Dan Brown backlist titles helped to drive gains in 2004, Romanos said. He was particularly proud of S&S's ability to reach new readers through Spotlight Entertainment and Downtown Press, and he pointed to the bestseller He's Just Not That Into You (with 1.65 million copies).
For the coming year, Romanos said the house will look to begin publishing in new categories, while also using its 17,000-title backlist to expand its custom and proprietary publishing programs.
And what about selling direct? S&S spokesperson Adam Rothberg told PW that S&S already sells e-books directly to customers through SimonSaysShop.com, which, he said, attracts more than 300,000 visitors a month. "We have had much discussion and looked at many different scenarios for the natural next step," said Rothberg, "which is to offer our online community the convenience of purchasing a physical book or audio directly from our site." However, Rothberg added that there was "no time-table" for that next natural step.
