Scholastic Buys Chicken
Scholastic has acquired the U.K.— based Chicken House Publishing, whose best-known author, Cornelia Funke, has sold 2.6 million copies in the U.S., via Scholastic. Barry Cunningham, founder of Chicken House, will remain publisher.
Facts on File Acquired
The reference book and online publisher Facts on File has been acquired by the investment banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson. VSS plans to use FoF as a platform to acquire other companies in related areas.
Big Earth Buy
Big Earth Publishing has acquired the Boulder, Colo., publisher Johnson Books. Big Earth was formed last fall by an investor group led by David Oskin to build a trade house focusing on the outdoors, sports, adventure, travel and regional subjects. Johnson Books specializes in books on the American west and has a backlist of 150 titles.
Amazon Up; Potter, Too
Sales in Amazon.com's North American media group rose 17% in the first quarter, to $699 million, a slightly faster growth rate than in last year's first period. The e-tailer didn't break out how well books performed, but it did report that it has received 700,000 orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Amazon won't book those sales until the title ships July 16.
Solid Start for McGraw-Hill
Revenue in the first quarter at the McGraw-Hill education group rose 7.3%, to $307.3 million. Higher expenses led to a 14% increase in the operating loss, to $78.8 million. As expected, the school group had a strong quarter, with sales up 12.6%, to $148 million, while sales in the higher education, professional and international group increased 2.8%, to $159.3 million.
Gooseberry Heads to Trade
Gooseberry Patch, which has sold more than six million cookbooks via catalogues and gift stores, will now be distributed to bookstores through Andrews McMeel Distribution Services.
Jobs Title Moved Up
Wiley has moved up the pub date for iCon Steve Jobs, from early June to May 13, and doubled its first printing. The actions follow a wave of publicity for the title after Apple pulled all Wiley titles from its stores, expressing its displeasure over publication of the unauthorized bio.
HC Wins Reagan Diaries
HarperCollins won world rights to former president Ronald Reagan's diaries in a deal negotiated last week between HC CEO Jane Friedman and attorney Bob Barnett. HC plans to publish the book, which includes Reagan's observations for all eight years of his presidency, in 2006.
'Prince' Goes To Listening
Listening Library, which has published the audio editions of all previous Harry Potter titles, has landed North American audio rights to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Random House imprint will release the unabridged audio simultaneously with the July 16 publication of the Scholastic hardcover.
Mixed Results At Meredith
Sales fell slightly in Meredith Books' third quarter, though lower returns gave a boost to profits. The company is excited about prospects for the current quarter, when books related to the films Batman Begins, Fantastic Four and Madagascar are released.
Crime Pays for 2005 Edgar Winners
The Mystery Writers of America held their 59th annual Edgar Awards banquet in New York last week to honor the best in crime and mystery writing.
Winners include T. Jefferson Parker's California Girl (Morrow), best novel; Don Lee's Country of Origin (Norton), best first novel; and Domenic Stansberry's The Confession (Hard Case Crime), best paperback original.
Bird Watching On Amazon
Two years ago, Cornell ornithologist Tim Gallagher sold Houghton The Grail Bird, a look at the obsession with the ivory-billed woodpecker. Then, astonishingly, he helped find the bird. The book's release this spring was timed with the announcement of the finding; it's now being shipped. Other titles climbing Amazon:
In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Smithsonian) and The Race to Save the Lord God Bird (FSG).
Bound to Be Read Closing
Hubbard Broadcasting Corp. is ending its run in the bookstore business.
The company said last week that it will close both branches of Bound to Be Read. The St. Paul store will close by the end of July and the outlet in Albuquerque will be shut between now and the end of the year. Stan Hubbard, v-p of Hubbard Broadcasting, explained that both stores had lost money in the last few years.
The Whole Story
For the fuller text of items featured in "Briefs," see this week's PW Dailies, available at www.publishersweekly.com
Corrections
A miscommunication with PEN caused us to misidentify the distinguished gentleman dining with librarian Joan Airoldi at the organization's annual gala (News, Apr. 25). It was Public Affairs president Peter Osnos, not author A.E. Hotchner.
Also, Collins Design marketing manager Ali Kokmen's name was misspelled in the story "Comics Culture Takes Root at Collins Design" (Comics, Apr. 18).
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