The Works brings back dividend as demand for cheap books and Peppa Pig toys boosts sales May 20, 2022 Discount retailer The Works has reinstated its dividend after telling investors its sales are now significantly higher than at pre-pandemic levels, on the back of a record Christmas and booming demand for books. The firm said it had capitalised on the “BookTok” trend on social media platform TikTok to boost sales of its discount [...]
Bookworms continue to flourish as UK publishing hits new heights April 21, 2022 Bookworms continue to find their heads buried in books beyond the pandemic, with UK publishing sales hitting a new industry high to £6.7bn in 2021. Whilst Nielsen Bookscan estimated that 212 millon books were sold last year, the highest in a decade, new data released today by the Publishers Association has revealed that total sales [...]
Blackwell’s puts itself on the sale shelf after 143 years of family ownership February 1, 2022 One of the UK’s oldest booksellers Blackwell’s is looking to sell up after its 143-year history as it scraps plans to hand ownership of the business to its employees. As first reported by Mark Kleinman, the academic bookshop which has been owned by its founding family since its first store opened in Oxford in 1879, [...]
University puts trigger warning on Harry Potter January 28, 2022 The English department at the University of Chester have issued a trigger warning on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, saying it could lead “difficult conversations about gender, race, sexuality, class, and identity”. As part of a first year module, “Approaches to Literature” module, freshers are required to read JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book [...]
Bloomsbury continues to cash in on reading boom January 26, 2022 Bloomsbury Publishing expects its annual profit and revenue to top market expectations, underpinned by strong sales at its consumer division that sells adult and children's titles, the publisher of Harry Potter books said this morning.
HarperCollins settles with Russia’s Abramovich over ‘Putin’s People’ book December 22, 2021 HarperCollins settled a libel dispute with Russian businessman Roman Abramovich over a book about President Vladimir Putin by agreeing to amend certain passages relating to the reasons for buying Chelsea football club.
Bloomsbury buys academic publisher ABC-CLIO for $22.9m December 16, 2021 Bloomsbury announced this morning it has acquired US academic publisher ABC-CLIO for $22.9m (£17.3m), pushing shares up 5.72 per cent to 351p. Out of the total deal, $22.3m were given in cash on completion, leaving $0.6m to be paid post completion. The purchase is expected to strengthen Bloomsbury’s academic reach, especially in North America. “ABC-CLIO [...]
Sally Rooney and Kazuo Ishiguro among the most sold books of 2021, Amazon reveals December 14, 2021 Sally Rooney’s new novel ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ and Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Klara and the Sun’ feature among the 10 most sold books of 2021. According to an analysis carried out by Amazon, Rooney and Ishiguro feature alongside 2020 award-winning books such as Delia Owen’s ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ as well as Matt Haig’s ‘The [...]
Lawsuit filed to block Penguin Random House’s $2.2bn takeover of Simon & Schuster November 2, 2021 Penguin Random House's takeover of Simon & Schuster, saying the deal would give Penguin too much control over the publishing market.
Bloomsbury Publishing records highest ever first half sales and profits October 27, 2021 Bloomsbury Publishing delivered strong results in the first half with year-on-year revenue growth of 29 per cent to £100.7m and profit growth of 225 per cent to £12.9m.