Print Sales Up Double Digits at Amazon

Revenue in Amazon's North America media segment, which includes books and e-books, rose 15% in the second quarter to $1.32 billion. Sales in the electronic and general merchandise segment rose 76% to $2.09 billion. The segment includes Kindle and the newly acquired shoe online Web site. Much of Amazon's press release emphasized the success of Kindle and e-books, repeating the same statistics it issued on Monday. In the conference call, executives said physical book business rose by double digits in the quarter and for the first half of 2010.

Scholastic Has Solid Profit Gains in 2010

Scholastic reported that total revenue for the year ended May 31 rose 3%, to $1.91 billion, while operating income increased to $128.4 million from $70.4 million in fiscal 2009. The company reported net income of $56.1 million compared to a loss of $14.3 million last year. The revenue gain was led by the educational publishing group which had a 24% increase in sales to $476.5 million. Sales in Scholastic's biggest group, children's book publishing & distribution, fell 3%, to $910.6 million.

Keen Consolidates Wilderness Press

Keen Communications is splitting the operations of its Wilderness Press imprint into the offices of its two other imprints and will close Wilderness's Berkeley office at the end of July with the positions there eliminated. Keen president Richard Hunt said Wilderness will remain an active imprint with its editorial and production functions handled by Menasha Ridge in Birmingham, Ala. and marketing and publicity conducted from Clerisy Press's Cincinnati office.

Printing Up, Publishing Down at Courier

It was a bit of two different businesses in the third quarter ended June 26 for Courier Corp. as its printing division showed improvement while its publishing group struggled. Overall, total third-quarter sales at the company rose 6%, to $64.9 million, and net income rose to $1.8 million from $1.6 million.

Map Link Fighting for Survival

A filing made earlier this month as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding has caused confusion among some Map Link customers, but the company's president insists it continues to work on a reorganization plan. Map Link is one of the country's largest map distributors and its customers including bookstores.

AAP May Sales Report

Crown Cuts Five at WaterBrook Multnomah

For the second time in a week, the Crown Publishing Group has confirmed layoffs at one of its imprints. This time the cuts came in Crown's WaterBrook Multnomah religious book imprint. Sources said five jobs were eliminated, though a WaterBrook spokesperson would only confirm that "a small number of positions have been eliminated."

May Bookstore Sales Fell 2.6%

Bookstore sales fell for the second consecutive month in May, with revenue in the month down 2.6%, to $1.09 billion, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Bookstore sales for the first five months of 2010 were down slightly, falling 0.4%, to $6.33 billion. Bookstore sales, faced with easy comparisons to a soft early 2009, nonetheless have been weak in 2010 following a relatively strong 2.7% increase in January. Sales for the entire retail segment rose 8.5% in May and 6.8% for the first five months of 2010.

E-book Sales Rose 167% in May

After sales growth slowed slightly in April, to 127%, e-book sales rose 162.8% in May, to $29.3 million, at the 13 publishers that report results to AAP's monthly sales report. Sales for the first five months of the year increased 207.4%, to $148.3 million.

Borders Sells Paperchase

Borders has reached an agreement with the U.K. private equity firm Primary Capital Limited to sell Paperchase for $31 million. Borders acquired a majority stake in the stationery chain in 2004 for $24.1 million and all of its bookstores contain Paperchase sections. The company will use the proceeds to repay debt and is required to use $25 million to reduce the amount outstanding under its $90 million term loan credit facility.

Cengage to Consolidate Businesses into One Group

Academic and reference publisher Cengage Learning announced a restructuring Wednesday afternoon that will combine its two operating units into one group. Currently Cengage is divided into the academic and professional group, home to educational/professional publishers such as South-Western, Delmar, Wadsworth and Brooks/Cole, and the Gale library/reference group.

Charlesbridge Buys Imagine Publishing

Charlesbridge Publishing has acquired Imagine Publishing, a publisher founded in 2009 by Charles and Jeremy Nurnberg to do children and adult titles. Charles Nurnberg, the former CEO of Sterling, will stay on as v-p and publisher of the Imagine imprint, while Jeremy will become v-p of sales for Charlesbridge. Charlesbridge is taking over distribution of Imagine titles effective immediately.

Industry Stocks Down in 2010

Publishing industry stocks did not fare well in the first six months of 2010, with stock prices for 13 of the 15 companies that appear on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index falling in the January through June period.

Ingram Publisher Services Adds Three

Ingram Publisher Services has added three new clients-- Australian Academic Press, Dark Coast Press, and Pineapple Press.

Barnes & Noble Sees Revenue of $9 Billion in Fiscal 2014

With digital sales leading the way, Barnes & Noble CFO Joe Lombardi said that by fiscal 2014 total revenue at the company will hit $8.9 billion from the $5.8 billion achieved in the just concluded fiscal year and the $7.1 billion forecast for fiscal 2011. EBITDA will grow to over $500 million from $281 million in fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2014, retail stores, both trade and college, will contribute 69% of revenue compared to 90% of revenue in 2010.

Barnes & Noble Bets on B&N.com

With Barnes & Noble.com having easily the best year in its history in the fiscal year ended May 1, the nation's largest book retailer is looking for even bigger gains in its online unit in the current fiscal year. Sales at B&N.com rose 24% in the year, to $573 million and the company projected that B&N.com could hit sales of $1 billion this year. Sales at B&N trade stores were $4.3 billion this year with comp sales down 4.8%.

Audio Has Mixed 2009

Unit sales of audiobooks rose 4.7% in 2009, but sales fell 12% as audiobook publishers cut prices on selected titles and the number of lower-priced digital downloads increased, the Audio Publishers Association reported this morning. Digital downloads represented 49% of units sold in 2009, but only 29% of revenue. CD sales represented 46% of units sold and 65% of revenue. Digital downloads made up 21% of revenue in 2008, while CDs accounted for 72%.

Investor Group to Acquire Alloy for $126 Million

Alloy Inc., whose products aimed at young adults and older include Gossip Girl and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, has agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by ZelnickMedia in a deal valued at $126.5 million. According to a statement, the new owners, which include members of Alloy’s senior management team, “aim to build Alloy into a leading entertainment and media brand for the millennial generation (ages 10-29).” The company had sales of $205 million in the fiscal year ended January 31 and an operating loss of $2.4 million.

Wiley Looks for More Gains After Solid Fiscal '10

AAP Annual Sales Report