U.S. Dampens Quarto Results

Six-month sales at U.K.-based publisher and packager Quarto Group inched up from £38.2 million last year to £38.3 million ($70 million), but operating income jumped 127%, to £2.0 million. The gains came entirely from the company's international co-edition unit, which reported a 4% sales gain and a 140% increase in operating income. Sales in the publishing segment, however, fell 2% and profits were off by 24%, due in part to sluggish U.S. sales.

Quarto said sales of its home improvement titles in the U.S. were hurt by distribution issues at Home Depot, while sales of its arts and crafts titles were slowed by problems at Michaels. Sales of art books were down and sales at Quarto's promotional publisher Book Sales fell by 25%.

Drugan Resigns from NEBA

Illness is forcing Rusty Drugan to step down as executive director of the New England Booksellers Association. NEBA board president Allan Schmid said that Drugan would stay on until a successor is named. He did not specify a date, but anticipated that it would be some time after next month's annual trade show.

Self-Help Imprint from Perigee

Penguin's Perigee imprint has signed a deal with a U.K. publisher to bring a line of bestselling British self-help titles to an American audience. 52 Brilliant Ideas, a series published by Infinite Ideas, will be launched by Perigee in 2007; the imprint will initially publish six titles and continue with two titles every month.

First Film From Random House

Reservation Road, based on the same-titled novel by John Burnham Schwartz, is the first Random House Film project to make it to production. The movie is being directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. The book, released in 1998 by Knopf and reissued in paperback by Vintage in 1999, centers on a pair of fathers whose lives are changed after the death of a child.

Dalkey Heading to N.Y.

The indie nonprofit press Dalkey Archive is relocating from Normal, Ill., to Rochester, N.Y. Currently on the campus of Illinois State University, the press will, by January 2007, be at the University of Rochester. At Rochester, Dalkey will coordinate literature programs with the school and work with students and professors on its biggest strength: literature in translation.

'ABR' to Be Revived

The American Book Review will be relaunched this November in a new home after nearly a year-long hiatus. The publication is moving from Illinois State University, where it was founded in 1977 by Ronald Sukenick, to the University of Houston-Victoria. The new editor-in-chief is Dr. Jeffrey Di Leo, the school's interim dean of Arts & Sciences and editor of the journal Symploke. The publication will continue to review "neglected published works of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism." Di Leo plans to publish 200—250 reviews per year.

Varsity Group Diversifies

The Varsity Group has added a new range of products it sells to schools. In addition to textbooks, under a deal with Baker & Taylor, Varsity will offer consumer and entertainment products beginning in the fourth quarter. The company has already started selling school supplies at its online stores through an agreement with Office Depot as well as educational software under a deal inked with CampusTech.

Banta Rejects Offer

Banta's board of directors firmly rejected a proposal from Cenveo Corp. chairman Robert Burton concerning a possible merger. In a letter to Burton, Banta chairman Stephanie Streeter said that since Burton's overture contained so many conditions, "the offer is illusory and therefore merits no further discussion."

Follett Makes Tech Purchase

Follett Digital Resources has acquired Interactive Constructs Inc., a developer of custom e-learning and Web publishing programs for education and publishers. FDR was formed by Follett Corp. last fall to provide services for distributing digital content and is part of the Follett Technology Solutions and International group. ICI will remain in Medford, Mass., under the direction of founder Kevin Polk who will become v-p of educational teachnology for FDR.