Graphic Arts In Bankruptcy
Unable to secure a refinancing deal, Graphic Arts Center Publishing has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company hopes to complete a reorganization plan within six months and intends to publish its full list this year. Under its three imprints—Graphic Arts Books, WestWinds Press and Alaska Northwest Books—Graphic Arts publishes about 40 books annually.
Cohen to Exit Hachette
Jill Cohen, publisher of Hachette Book Group's Bulfinch Press and new Springboard imprints, will leave the company at the end of April.
With her departure, Bulfinch is moving to Little, Brown, where it will be under the direction of publisher Michael Pietsch; Bulfinch executive editor Michael Sand will report to LB editor-in-chief Geoff Shandler. Springboard is moving under the Warner Books umbrella; editorial director Karen Murgolo will report to Warner publisher Jamie Raab. Matthew Ballast, who handled publicity for both imprints, will oversee Bulfinch PR for the remainder of the year, and will continue to do publicity for Springboard and for other Warner titles.
ODMC to Appeal
The On Demand Machine Corp. will appeal last month's decision by a three-judge panel that overturned a patent infringement verdict against Lightning Source. ODMC will file the appeal before all nine judges on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
S&S Hits $763 Million
Simon & Schuster's sales were $763.6 million in 2005, 2% ahead of 2004, said parent company CBS in its year-end filing with the SEC. Sales in 2003 were $693.5 million. Operating earnings aren't broken out, but operating expenses increased 1% last year, to $525 million.
February Store Sales Fall
Bookstore sales dropped 1.7% in February, to $1.05 billion, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales for the entire retail segment were up 7.4% in the month. For the first two months of 2006, bookstore sales increased 2.2%, to $3.19 billion; sales for all of retail were ahead 8.5% in the period.
Courier Second Quarter Up
Total revenue at Courier Corp. rose 8% in the second quarter of fiscal 2006, to $57.5 million, and net income increased 15%, to $4.4 million. The printing division had the biggest gain, with sales up 9%, to $49.4 million, led by a 14% increase in educational printing and the inclusion of the recently acquired Moore Langen. Publishing sales were up 5%, to $10.3 million.
For the first half of fiscal 2006, net income rose 16%, to $8.9 million, on a 10% increase in sales, to $115.2 million.
HC Picks NewsStand
HarperCollins has selected NewsStand Inc. as its exclusive vendor to develop the publisher's digital warehouse. NewsStand builds digital platforms for newspapers and magazines; the agreement with HC is its first in book publishing.
Powell's Still Family Affair
Powell's Books is going to stay a family-owned and -run business. Emily Powell, who has worked at the store for two years, will start as director of used books on May 1. And the company is beginning a four- to six—year transition plan that will give ownership of the business to Emily.
The Big Book of Appalachia
The University of Tennessee Press unveiled its 1,864-page Encyclopedia of Appalachia last month at East Tennessee State University. Pictured (l. to r.) are Jill Oxendine, UTP managing editor; Roberta Herrin, East Tennessee State; UTP editor Jean Haskell; UTP editor Rudy Abramson; Jennifer Siler, UTP director.
Maguire Dies at 47
Basic Books v-p and publisher Elizabeth Maguire, a champion of books by African-American and Catholic intellectuals who balanced her passion for rigorous idea books with bottom-line trade publishing, died on April 8, after a short battle with ovarian cancer. She was 47. Her career spanned academic and trade publishing, including stints at Cambridge and Oxford University presses, then at Addison Wesley Longman's trade group and the Free Press, where she was editorial director. She joined Basic in 2000 and became publisher in 2002. Maguire also wrote a novel, Thinner, Blonder, Whiter, and was working on a novel about Constance Fenimore Woolson.
