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AUTHORLINK NEWS ARCHIVES

Report Identifies

Key Forces Shaping

Book Publishing

Large US/Foreign Houses Dominate

DARIEN, CONN/ LATE JUNE'97--Most segments of the publishing industry can look to a healthy economic future as the millennium approaches, according to a new report by the consultancy firm, Open Book Publishing.

The newly-published study, titled The 1997 Perspective on Book Publishing: Numbers, Issues & Trends, focuses on issues and events shaping consumer, educational, professional and international publishing. The study also includes in-depth chapters on bookselling, mergers acqusitions, alliances, technology, forecasts, financial results, and a chronology of events from January 1996 through mid-1997.

Vital signs within the publishing industry are good for most segments, according to Stephanie Oda, co-author of the report. "Adult trade has hit a rough spot, but it will rally, as did children’s books following a recession in the mid-90s," Ms Oda said.

Key findings in the report reveal that:

• More than one-third of the US publishing market (35.8%) is owned by ten large foreign-based publishers, based on 1996 sales estimates of $7.2 billion.
• Approximately 85% of all US publishing sales is concentrated among 20 large houses, accounting for $17 billion in sales.
• Eight North American publishers reported sales of $1 billion or more in 1996.
• Globalization is a prominent trend in professional publishing, particularly in the scientific/technical/medical area.
• Consolidation of distribution companies and a continuing decline in the number of small national distributors will impact independent publishers.
• Copyright laws will be a major factor in the viability of Internet publishing.
• In adult trade, direct distribution by publishers will overtake the wholesaler venue.
• Sales of the 10 largest North American book chains total about $5.8 billion.
• The most dramatic shrinkage in the number of players occurs in the educational publishing arena.
• While CD-ROM may have fizzled in trade, education remains a promising market.
• The professional publishing segment continues to lead all industry segments in export sales.

The 200+ page study, including 69 data tables, sells for $349. Open Book Publishing publishes Subtext, a bi-weekly book industry newsletter.

Baker & Taylor

To Fill Demand For

Out-of-Print Books

CHARLOTTE, NC/ LATE JUNE '97--Baker & Taylor Inc., the world's largest book distributor, has formed a new ``on-demand publishing'' division to offer limited runs of out-of-print or out-of-stock books.

The new unit, Replica Books, begins operation this fall. It will acquire the publishing rights to previously hard-to-find titles. Books will be stored electronically, as computer text or in facsimile form. When a customer orders a book from a list of available titles, the book will be electronically printed, bound in hard cover, and delivered within a few weeks at $5 to $10 above its original hardcover price.

Replica will pay publishers or authors a fee for every book sold, and may also publish some books in the public domain.

The new unit is Baker & Taylor's first venture into book publishing. The service is expected to make it easier for libraries, bookstores and individuals to find out-of-print books.

Former literary agent and book publisher Richard Huttner has been named managing director of Replica. The unit will be based in Charlotte, NC and will also have staff in Baker & Taylor's Bridgewater, NJ offices.

Scholastic Combines

Four Divisions,

Creates New Unit

NEW YORK, NY/ LATE JUNE '97--Scholastic Inc., a subsidiary of Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL), has combined the sales/marketing/promotional efforts of four divisions into a single new Scholastic School Group.

The New York-based publisher of quality children's books, magazines and educational materials, has merged the powerful sales and marketing expertise of its' Instructional Publishing Group (IPG), Classroom Magazines, Professional Publishing and the Early Childhood Division into one operation. The new unit will market and sell a full line of Scholastic products to the schools. Previously, each division had its own sales force.

Dick Robinson, President, Chairman and CEO, Scholastic Inc., made the announcement.

As a result of the consolidation, several key management changes were also announced.

Margery Mayer, executive vice president, Instructional Publishing, continues to oversee Literacy Place, Scholastic's premiere reading and language arts core curriculum program. Mayer will also head development of new core reading and literacy curriculum products.

Linda Koons has been appointed vice president/publisher, Supplementary Publishing. The newly- formed unit includes Early Childhood, Professional Publishing and Supplementary Products.

Claudia Cohl, currently vice president, professional publishing, becomes vice president, Editorial Planning and Development of the Scholastic School Group.

Hugh Roome will serve as executive vice president, Promotion and Sales for the Scholastic School Group. He also continues as Publisher of Classroom Magazines.

Mayer, Koons, Cohl and Roome will continue reporting to Dick Robinson.

Scholastic is a leading publisher and distributor of children's books, classroom magazines, instructional materials and other educational products. The 75-year-old company also publishes educational software and produces children's and family-oriented video and television programming. The company's international operations include United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the, and Mexico.

Reed Elsevier

Acquires Third

US Publisher

AMSTERDAM/ LATE JUNE '97-- Reed Elsevier, has purchased trade magazine publisher Chilton Business Group from Walt Disney Co.

The $447 million sale is Reed Elsevier's third US acquisition this year. The Anglo-Dutch publishing group, also recently acquired 40 US legal publications from Thomson Corp.

The highly-profitable Chilton made a pre-tax profit of $28 million last year on sales of $203 million. The company publishes 39 business magazines, on manufacturing, entertainment and automotive subjects.

Chilton's core trade press business will be merged with Reed-Elsevier's US business magazine division, Cahners Publishing Co.

HarperCollins

Axes Delinquent

Authors' Manusripts

NEW YORK, NY/ LATE JUNE'97--HarperCollins, has cancelled about 100 completed manuscripts and titles as a cost-cutting measure, according to the New York Times (June 27, 1997). Among cancelled manuscripts are about 70 works, axed because authors missed contractual deadlines. HarperCollins is a holding of News Corp Ltd (NCP.AX).

New Winslow

Press Launches

Children's Titles

DELRAY BEACH,FL/ LATE JUNE '97--The new Winslow Press, based in Delray Beach, FL, will launch its first five children's titles this summer. Winslow is the publsihing entity for the year-old Foundation for Concepts in Education, which promtoes early reading through books and technology.

Winslow Press plans to retail its titles for $15.95 through consumer and educational channels. Each of the titles will have a companion teacher's curriculum guide, priced between $3.95 and $5.95.

The publisher also will launch a web site this Fall featuring information about its titles, activities, links to related sites, and possibly book ordering capabilities.

Harvard Business

Press Intensifies

Output for '97

LATE JUNE'97--Harvard Business School Press will release 40 hardcover titles in 1997, doubling the number of titles published the previous year.

Titles are distributed through the trade channel by McGraw-Hill. The HBSP also does extensive direct marketing through the Harvard Business Review (220,000 subscribers) and other resources.

The 12-year-old,non-profit publisher now employs 20 people, including three editors. Net income is used to fund research at Harvard Business School.

Houghton Mifflin

Captures Key

City Adoptions

LATE JUNE '97-- Houghton Mifflin's school division has landed major city adoptions in Milwaukee, WI, and Rochester, NY.

About 70% of Milwaukee K-6 schools have chosen HM's Invitations to Literacy reading series over Scholastic's Literacy Place, giving HM a clear lead in the largest shcool district in Wisconsin. Milwaukee will spend an estiamted $2 million on reading textbooks this year.

Earlier, HM also won the $1 million adoption for K-6 schools in Rochester, the third largest school district in New York.

GT Publishing

To Launch

Fall Adult List

Two-year-old GT (Good Times) Publishing Corp. will launch an adult line of informational nonfiction titles this fall. The launch will include three celibrity-driven titles--Charlton Heston Presents The Bible, Naomi Judd's Home Companion and Sweetie Pie, by Richard Simmons, with a combined run of one million copies.

GT was founded as a children's book publisher, based on licensed characters such as Mercer Mayer's Little Critter. The company releases about 50-100 children's books per year, packaged with other items such as toys and tapes.

Leslie Stoker,former publisher of Workman's Artisan imprint, will head the new GT dult unit as editorial director. The line will be expanded to include eight titles next year.

Ms Wray Tapped

As Senior Sales VP

At S&S Unit

PARSIPPANY NJ/ LATE JUNE '97-- Marjorie E. (Beth) Wray has been named to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Director of Sales and Marketing for Silver Burdett Ginn (SBG), a unit of Simon & Schuster. The announcement was made by SBG President William Oldsey.

Ms. Wray, formerly of Scholastic Inc., a top sales and marketing executive in the K-8 school publishing business, previously served as Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Scholastic's Instructional Publishing Group.

She will have direct responsibility for SBG's sales organization and its new centralized marketing operation.. Her job will including helping Mr. Oldsey to increase collaboration between SBG and various publishing divisions of Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster is the world's largest English-language book publisher, and includes Prentice Hall School, S&S Children's Publishing and Educational Management Group, which delivers live, interactive television to more than two million students in 4,000 schools nationwide.

Readers Digest

Association Names

Perez Vice President

PLEASANTVILLE, NY/LATE JUNE '97--The Reader's Digest Association Inc. (NYSE:RDA, RDB) has named Jose Raul Perez vice president, Global Product Development for Reader's Digest Music.

Perez, 35, had served as vice president, Reader's Digest Music since November. He will be based in Manhattan, and will report to Barbara J. Morgan, senior vice president and editor-in-chief, Reader's Digest Books & Home Entertainment Products.

Perez now will be Reader's Digest primary liaison with the music industry worldwide, working with artists, labels and repertoire owners to source and distribute music products, and directing Reader's Digest product development initiatives for its international as well as US companies.

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global publisher and direct marketer of magazines, books, music, videos and new media products. Global headquarters is in Pleasantville, NY.

Encyclopaedia

Britannica Names

Hoffman Publisher

CHICAGO, IL/LATE JUNE '97-- Paul Hoffman will join Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. as senior vice president and publisher, effective in July.

Hoffman comes to Britannica from the Walt Disney Company where he was president and editor-in-chief of Discover Magazine. He also was responsible for the prime-time TV series Discover Magazine and for video, theme park, and new media versions of the magazine. The colorful executive has been a special correspondent for the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning. This fall he will host the five-part PBS series Great Minds of Science. He is the author of ten books and a contributor to national magazines.

Hoffman, who will be based in Chicago, will report to Don Yannias, chief executive officer of Britannica.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., publishes authoritative encyclopedia products. They include Britannica CD(TM), on CD-ROM; Britannica Online(TM), on the Internet; and the famous 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica®. The company, headquartered in Chicago, can be located on the World Wide Web at http://www.eb.com.

Gulf Publishing

Loses Two Key

Editorial Members

Houston-based Gulf Publishing Company has lost two key editorial executives within a few weeks. B.J. Lowe, Editor of Gulf Publishing, and Claire Blondeau, Acquisitions Editor, departed the company, each not realizing the other was leaving.

B.J. Lowe left to begin his own Clarion Scientific and Technical Conferences and Publishing Company in Houston.

Claire Blondeau left after three years with Gulf to join Arthur Andersen in Houston where she is marketing business consulting services. She continues to freelance as an editor and indexing expert.

Borders Announces

Plans To Open

Three More Stores

Borders® Inc., with more than 160 bookstores nationwide, has announced plans to open stores in three cities, Livingston, NY, Fresno, CA, and Hyannis, MASS.

In Livingston, NY, Borders® has signed an agreement with G&S Livingston Realty, Inc. to open a 27,535-square-foot Borders® Books Music & Cafe at Rte.10 & Daven Ave. The new store, slated for a fall, 1997 opening, will be the ninth Borders® in New York.

A 25,000-square-foot Borders® Books Music & Cafe will also open this fall in Fresno, CA, offering more than 200,000 book titles, music selections and videos. The new unit will be one of 24 in California.

Also opening this fall will be a 25,000 square-foot Borders® Books Music & Cafe at Rte. 132 & Independence Way in Hyannis, MASS. The new store will be one of six in Massachusetts.

All three stores will offer a vast selection and special events.

Founded as a small independent bookstore near the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor by Tom and Louis Borders in 1971, Borders has been selling books for more than 256 years. the company went public in 1995 (NYSE:BGP). Ninety-percent of Borders full-time employees with six months tenure own stock in the company.

Communications Week

Changes Name

To Internet Week

MANHASSET, NY/ LATE JUNE '97-- CMP Media, Inc. has announced it will change the name of Communications Week magazine to Internet Week, effective September 1. The move reflects the trend toward use of the Internet and corporate networks to provide business solutions for computing, communications and commerce.

Internet Week will address the information needs of network/IS professionals and corporate management whose purchasing responsibilities have increasingly shifted to Internet and network-based applications.

As part of the magazine's changing focus, CMP named Deborah Gisonni as publishing director of Internet Week. She formerly served as publishing director of CMP's Network Computing. Mike Azzara continues as publisher, but also takes on the role of Editorial Director.

Communications Week currently reaches 190,000 network/IS professionals and corporate managers whose responsibilities include development and deployment of their company's Internet strategies. Internet Week will continue reaching this population.

The re-designed Internet Week will include news, reviews, case studies and business analysis for IT buyers focused on the Internet, corporate networks, intranets and extranets. The magazine will cover electronic commerce, intranets, clients and servers, bandwidth developments, security and management and business strategies.

CMP Media Inc. serves the broad spectrum of builders, sellers and users of technology. All of CMP's publications and on-line products can be accessed through the company's TechWeb(R) site on the Web at http://www.techweb.com.

New Sky Begins

Feature-Length

Comedy Film

ROCHESTER, NY/LATE JUNE '97-- New Sky Communications, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: NSKY) will begin shooting a feature film , "SYRACUSE MUSE," in late July.

The comedy, to be directed by Paul Todisco, will star Steve Zahn ("That Thing You Do"; "Suburbia") and Josh Hamilton ("With Honors"; "Alive").

The film is budgeted for about $1 million, with New Sky, as a one-third owner. A New Sky spokesman said that the Company continues to develop additional projects for possible future production.

Dallas Morning News

Celebrates Purchase

Of Colleyville Times

GRAPEVINE, TX/ LATE JUNE '97--The Dallas Morning News celebrated its acquisition of the Colleyville News & Times June 30 at a reception in Delaney Vinyards, Grapevine, TX. Some 700 people attended the affair.

Jeremy Halbriech, president and general manager of the Dallas Morning News, provided opening remarks, and introduced Colleyville News & Times Publisher Dian Thompson. Ms. Thompson assured the crowd that the publication would remain a hometown newspaper, continuing its coverage of everything form business to little league.

Editor Tammy Adams and staff will remain in their positions. The only distinguishable change, according to Jeremy Halbriech will be that the weekly newspaper will now be printed in color.

UK To Host

European Literary

Festival In '99

LONDON/ LATE JUNE '97-- London has been chosen as the site for Europe's largest literary festival in May, 1999. The ten-day event is expected to attract writers from throughout the world.

The London Festival of Literature will include readings, talks and experimental workshops. Events will take place at landmark buildings in literary London, as well as in participating clubs, theaters, museums, bookstores and parks.

Houghton-Mifflin

Declares

Stock Split

BOSTON,MASS/ LATE JUNE '97-- The board of directors of the Houghton Mifflin Company (NYSE:HTN) has declared a two-for-one split in common stock for shareholders of record July 11, 1997. The 100% stock dividend will be distributed on July 25, 1997, following the company's tradition of continuously paying dividends since its founding in 1908.

A quarterly cash dividend increase of 4.2% was also voted. A dividend of $.125 per post-split share, will be payable on August 27,1997, to shareholders of record on August 13. The new annual dividend rate is $.50 per post-split share.

Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading publisher of textbooks, instructional technology, and other educational materials for elementary and secondary school and college markets. The Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works, fiction and non-fiction for adults and young readers, and multimedia products.

John Wiley & Sons

Reports Increase

In '97 Revenues

NEW YORK, NY/ LATE JUNE '97--John Wiley & Sons Inc., has announced a net income of $20.3 million ($1.24 per share) for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1997.

Results for the current fiscal year included a loss of $4.4 million, or $0.27 per share, for VCH Publishing Group, acquired in June 1996, relating to financing costs and the amortization of intangibles. Net income for the prior year was $24.7 million, or $1.49 per share, and included a special income item of $2.6 million, equal to $0.16 per share, related to interest income received on the favorable resolution of amended tax return claims.

Revenues for the fiscal year increased 19% to $432 million compared with $362.7 million in the previous year. Revenues excluding VCH were up 6% over the prior year. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997, revenues were $107.6 million, or 19% over the prior year's fourth quarter revenue of $90.4 million.

Operating income for the fiscal year of $34.8 million was up 6% over the prior year. Operating income for the fourth quarter was $4 million reflecting a gain of 10% over the prior year's fourth quarter.

Improvement in revenues and operating income was driven primarily by the company's scientific, technical, and medical journals program, by its college division and by its international operations.

John Wiley & Sons Inc., founded in 1807, is an independent, global publisher of print and electronic products, specializing in scientific, technical and medical books and journals; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and textbooks and educational materials for colleges and universities. Wiley has publishing, marketing and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Harcourt Declares

Cash Dividend

For 148th Time

CHESTNUT HILL, MASS/LATE JUNE '97-- The Board of Directors of Harcourt General, Inc. (NYSE:H) has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share on Common Stock; 20.55 cents per share on Series A Stock, and 16.2 cents per share on Class B Stock--all payable July 31, 1997 to stockholders of record on July 14, 1997.

The company has paid cash dividends for 148 consecutive quarters.

Harcourt General, Inc., a growth-oriented operating company, has core businesses in publishing and specialty retailing. The Company also provides professional outplacement services to clients worldwide.