Rubin Leaves Random House
After 25 years in executive roles in the Random House/Doubleday family, Steve Rubin, has resigned from the publishing company. Rubin, who acquired numerous bestselling titles for RH, served most recently as executive v-p and publisher-at-large for Random House, and had previously been president and publisher of the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group. Rubin said he has had discussions about other opportunities in publishing and is considering an offer to write a book from “one of the finest publishers in the industry.”
Scholastic Starts Strong
Revenue for the first quarter ended August 31 rose 14% at Scholastic, to $315.6 million, while the net loss was reduced to $23 million from $49.1 million. Chairman Dick Robinson said the results keep the publisher on track to achieve “significantly higher” earnings for the full year. In the children's book publishing and distribution segment, total revenue rose 25%, to $76.2 million, led by a 25% increase in the trade segment. In educational publishing, revenue increased 29%, to $148.7 million, with sales of educational technology, including Scholastic's READ 180 program, rising by $35 million as federal stimulus money began finding its way to schools. Sales to classroom libraries were flat in the quarter.
Capstone Adds Graphic Novels
Capstone Press, a nonfiction imprint of Capstone Publishers, plans to add a new line of kids' nonfiction graphic novels to its fast-growing comics and graphic novel publishing program. This fall the house is launching Graphic Expeditions, which will debut with six titles that aim to introduce young readers to social studies, history and world cultures.
Bologna Reinstates Fourth Day
After announcing it was trimming its annual fair by a day, the Bologna Children's Book Fair has yielded to protests and reinstated the fourth day of the event. The 2010 fair will now take place from Tuesday to Friday, March 23—26.
New iPhone Tools
Aptara, an international developer of content conversion systems, is teaming up with iPhone applications developer ScrollMotion to create a more efficient system to transform book content into interactive e-book material for the iPhone.
Fulcrum Splits
Fulcrum Publishing in Golden, Colo., is narrowing its list and splitting into two divisions—Fulcrum Books, which will continue to be based in Colorado, and Speaker's Corner, which will be based in the Upper Midwest. Under the new arrangement, Derek Lawrence, currently associate publisher of Fulcrum Publishing, and Sam Scinta, publisher of Fulcrum Publishing will become publishers of Fulcrum Books and Speaker's Corner, respectively.
Applebaum Helps Out
Random House's Stuart Applebaum is donating $60,000 each to two literacy organizations—Everybody Wins! Foundation and First Book—to mark his 60thbirthday. The contributions are being made through the Stuart S. Applebaum Giving Foundation.
