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August
1999
PROFIT
LOSS
Educational
Insights:
Sales rose 21 percent to $39.2 million in the latest year.
Houghton
Mifflin: Sales rose 11.2 percent to $305.2 million in the
latest half, compared to a year earlier.
IDG:
Sales rose 56 percent to $45.1 million in the latest quarter,
compared to a year earlier.
Reed Elsevier:
Revene rose 8 percent in the latest half, but pretax profit fell
10 percent to $607.5 million.
Scholastic:
Net income rose 56 percent to $36.8 million in the latest year,
and sales 9 percent to $1.1 billion.
Torstar:
Supplemental education sales rose 24 percent to $62.3 million
in the latest quarter, compared to a year earlier.
Wolters
Kluewer: Earnings projected to rise 11 percent in the first
half, compared to a year earlier.
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R.I.P.
Frederick C. Whitney
Frederick
C. Whitney (mass communication), San Diego State University, died
August 3 of complications from surgery on a carotid artery. He
was 79. His works included Mass Media and Communication in
Society (1975).
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Irish firm
acquires Logal
DUBLIN,
Ireland, Aug. 1, 1999
-- K-12 publisher Riverdeep Interactive, based in Dublin, bought
Logal Education Software of Israel. For $5 million cash, Riverdeep
gets Logal's software, internet portal and technology to bolster
its K-12 math and science offerings.
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Reed choose
Pampers man as chief exec
LONDON,
Aug. 1, 1999
-- A former Procter & Gamble marketing executive, Crispin Davis,
was named chief executive of the Reed Elsevier publishing empire.
At Procter, Davis supervised the successful introduction of Pamper
diapers in Britain. More recently he has been chief executive
at the Aegis media services company.
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Textbook
and Academic Book Sales through May 1999
TEXTBOOK
AND ACADEMIC BOOK SALES
THROUGH MAY 1999
From Association of American Publishers compilations
|
| El-hi
adoptions |
8.7
percent |
| University
press (paperback) |
5.1
percent |
| University
press (hardback) |
4.6
percent |
| College |
-3.7
percent |
| STM
and business |
8.7
percent |
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Prima expands
Indiana, California facilities
INDIANAPOLIS.
Indiana, August 1, 1999
-- The publishing company Prima, whose product line includes computer
tutorials, reference books and tutorials, relocated its technology
publishing division and some sales people to downtown in an expansion,
the company said. Meanwhile, in Rocklin, California, the editorial
department is expanding.
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Geography
lesson to launch New Orleans convention
FOLSOM,
California, August 1, 1999
-- Any chance of a hurricane when Text and Academic Authors convenes
for its annual convention in June? At the convention, geography
author Robert Christopherson will answer that question in a quick
orientation to geosystems in the Mississippi Delta. Christopherson
said he also will talk about Camille in 1996 and Georges and Bonnie
in 1998. "A little history too," he said, "the fact that New Orleans
is below sea level, the Chandeleure Island wipe-out last year,
the Army Corps of Engineers old control structure.
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TAA exploring
publisher deal for members
CARROLLTON,
Texas, August 1, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors is in discussions with Alliance Press
of Carrollton, Texas, to publish TAA members' books with "author-friendly
contracts," Ron Pynn, TAA executive director, said. Pynn emphasized
to TAA Council members that discussions are preliminary. He distributed
a summary of discussions to date, as prepared by Jon Hughes, Alliance
publisher, and asked Council members for their reactions. He said
the shape of an Alliance agreement would be very different from
one proposed with Copley Publishing of Massachusetts but which
never came to anything and was abandoned two years ago.
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TAA newsletter
hits the mails
WINONA,
Minnesota, August 2, 1999
-- The August issue of the Academic Author, featuring a
profile of Karen Morris, president of Text and Academic Authours,
was mailed to TAA members. The issue also included an article
on tips from textbook author attorney Michael Lennie on dealing
with mergers. Effects, he said, include less bargaining power,
lower royalties, and less content control.
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TAA convention
draws high marks
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, August 2, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors members at the 1999 convention in
Utah gave the program high marks. Responses like "excellent" and
"more next time" peppered evaluations of the 17 sessions arranged
by program chair Paul Tippens. Sessions were judged on the presenter's
knowledge and presentation, audio visual material and handouts,
value as a learning and growth experience, and whether the presentation
was useful.
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Masscom
authors share notes with teachers
NEW ORLEANS,
Louisiana, August 4, 1999
-- Masscom educators who teach introductory survey courses were
all ears as four textbook authors discussed their thoughts about
the course in a panel. Shirley Biagi, of Cal State-Sacramento,
recommended exercises that related students' own media experience
with the lessons at hand. Biagi, who's been recognized for teaching
excellence, drew on examples from her own work. Other panelists
included John Bittner, North Carolina; Joe Dominick, Georgia;
and John Vivian, Winona State.
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Reed turn-around
plan now due in March
LONDON,
Aug. 5, 1999
-- The floundering publishing giant Reed Elsevier won't have a
turn-around plan for another eight months, said new chief executive
Crispin Davis. He had been hired from Aegis, a media marketing
service, as a turn-round whiz, but sources said it will take time
for him to learn Reed well enough to fix its problems. Major problems
are Reed's Lexis on-line legal database, which has lost ground
to Thomson's competing Westlaw, and the U.S. trade journal division
Cahners.
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Royalty
audit planned for TAA volunteer
WINONA,
Minnesota, August 6, 1999
-- Authors who want to be considered for the first Text and Academic
Authors audit of royalty statements should submit a summary of
their situation as soon as possible, said audit chair John Vivian.
The decision on auditing one member's statement, at TAA's expense,
will be made in September, he said. So far, four TAA members have
volunteered. Vivian's commitee will select the one that sems most
likely to identify problems that, when publicized, will encourage
the publisher to improve its bookkeeping to the benefit of all
authors.
What to
do: Ask TAA how to submit materials
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Reed slashes
Cahners payroll
LONDON,
Aug. 7, 1999
-- Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier cut 300 U.S. jobs at its
Cahners trade-journal publishing operation -- 7 percent of the
employees. The declining business publications market has been
hard on Cahners, and hurt Reed's bottom line. Reed's stock on
the London Exchange is a bit more than half what it was at a February
peak.
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Britannica
plans 40-volume encyclopedia
CHICAGO,
Aug. 7, 1999
-- Encyclopedia Britannica is working on a 40-volume encyclopedia,
the largest in history, and it will be in print format. Recent
Britannica products have been on CD-ROM, DVD and on-line. Paul
Hoffman, publisher, said overseas markets remain strong for print
products. The revision, he said, is the largest the most thorough
revision in Britannica history with 7,000 contributors worldwide.
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No deal
in rumored Viacom-Time talks
NEW YORK,
Aug. 8, 1999
-- Talks between media conglomerates Viacom and Time Warner to
consolidate their warehouse, marketing and sales functions haze
fizzled, the New York Daily News reported. A Time spokesperson
declined to confirm there had even been talks.
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Zapruder
family seeks copyright agent for film
WASHINGTON,
August 9, 1999
-- Heirs of Abraham Zapruder, who photographed the 1963 assassination
of President John Kennedy with a home-movie camera, is seeking
a public institution to take over the film for posterity. The
family owns the rights even though the government has possession
of the film as a national artifact. The family said it wants an
institution that will "continue our policies of proper caretaking
on a permanent basis."
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Adam.com
buys patient education supplier
NEW YORK,
August.9, 1999
-- A.D.A.M. Software, now known as Adam.com, bought Information
Medical Systems, which specializes in patient education, in a
stock swap. IMS products will be integrated into Adam.com on-line
services, said President Peter Scott.
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Med journal
editor fired over marketing line
BOSTON,
August 9, 1999
-- The Massachusetts Medical Society fired Jerome Kassirer, editor
of the New England Journal of Medicine. Details were not
announced, but the Boston Globe reported that Kasirrer
had objected to the society's promotional line for its other publications:
"From the publishers of the New England Journal of Medicine."
The line, he said, denigrated the journal by trading on its prestige.
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Stores
probing dual-pricing allegations
OBERLIN,
Ohio, August 10, 1999
-- The National Association of College Stores may sue publishers
that sell to Internet bookstores at super-discounts. A NACS survey,
conducted by the law firm Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn,
found some publishers that charge traditional book stores more
than Internet stores. NACS commissioned the survey after member
stores said they were being disadvantaged as much 30 percent.
If dual pricing is being practiced, another NACS law suit is possible,
the association said.
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Used-book
company to help campus stores
LINCOLN,
Nebraska, August 12, 1999
-- A coop owned by Nebraska Book Co., which specializes in used
books, is going into the consulting business for non-chain campus
stores. Dick Walsh, executive director of Connect2One, said help
will be offered in marketing to help stores compete with discount
e-stores. Another goal is to convince college administrators of
the value of a bricks-and-mortar on-campus store, heading off
further sell-outs to giant store management companies like Barnes
& Noble and Follett.
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TAA creating
on-line catalog for member books
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, August 12, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors announced an on-line catalog of books
to which TAA members have rights and are willing to sell. Ron
Pynn, executive director, said the catalog will enable members
to keep books in circulation after publishers discontinue them.
This, he said, may attract many retired authors whose works still
have a following. The catalog will also serve authors with self-published
texts. In announcing the on-line catalog, Pynn said authors will
do their own billing and fulfillment. TAA is in the member service
business, not warehousing, he said.
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Marketing
flap threatens top medical journal
BOSTON,
August 12, 1999
-- Some New England Journal of Medicine editors and members
of the Massachusetts Medical Society, which publishes the Journal,
are so agitated over the firing of editor Jerome Kassirer that
the publication schedule may be at risk, insiders said. Kassirer
objected to the society's use of the Journal's name to
hype other society products -- like "From the publishers of the
New England Journal of Medicine."
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PROFIT
LOSS
Educational
Insights: Sales rose 21 percent to $39.2 million in the latest
year.
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Firm to
offer Wiley computing titles on-line
NORWOOD,
Massachusetts, August 16, 1999
-- An on-line library company, Books24x7.com, will put many Wiley
technical computing titles on-line under a licensing agreement.
Books24x7.com charges $400 a year for subscriptions.
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Interim
editor at New England Journal of Medicine
BOSTON,
August 16, 1999
-- The Massachusetts Medical Society named Marcia Angell interim
editor of the troubled New England Journal of Medicine.
Angell succeeds Jerome Kassirer, who was fired after objecting
to the society's capitalizing on the Journal's name to
advertise lesser products. The ouster led to a major rift between
the journal staff and society administrators. Angell is believed
sympathetic to Kassirer's position. She said she will serve only
until a permanent editor is appointed. Then she will retire.
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Pearson
buys Thomson Financial Securities
LONDON,
August 16, 1999
-- British publisher Pearson bought Thomson Financial Securities
Managament, which Pearson will add to its Financial Times
subsidiary. Price: $150 million.
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2000 TAA
convention chair seeks member-responsive ideas
MURFREEBORO,
Tennessee, August 16, 1999
-- The program chair for the 2000 Text and Academic Authors Convention,
viscom author Chris Harris, invited TAA members to let him know
what they would like on the program. The theme is the basics of
authoring, but nothing will preclude giving members what they
want, Harris said.
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Bass family
ups stake in Wiley
NEW YORK,
August 16, 1999
-- The Bass family, among the nation's richest, increased its
interests in the John Wiley & Son publishing house by 8.1 percent.
The family now has a 13.3 percent interest.
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Bigwords.com
builds Ohio warehouse
CINCINNATI,
Ohio, August 16, 1999
-- An 80,000-square foot warehouse is being built near Cincinnati
by Bigwords.com, an on-line textbook distributor. Bigwords said
the facility is within 500 miles of 80 percent of U.S. college
students.
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Publisher,
editor in new marketing accord
BOSTON,
August 17, 1999
-- The Massachusetts Medical Society and the new editor of its
New England Journal of Medicine agreed that she would control
the journal's content -- and most use of its name. Under the agreement,
the society agreed not to create products with similar-sounding
names, like the New England Journal of Gynecology. The
society insisted, however, that it use terminology like "From
the publishers of the New England Journal of Medicine to
lend prestige to other products. The issue has divided the Journal
staff and led to the firing of Jerome Kassirer, the former editor.
His interim replacement, with whom the accord was reached, is
Marcia Angell.
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Proposed
web filter does odd screening
SALT LAKE
CITY, Utah, August 18, 1999
-- The kinds of web filters required in a bill before Congress
would screen out more than pornography, the Censorship Project
reported. A test in Utah blocked access to the Declaration of
Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Book or Mormon, the Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes, and all of Shakespeare. The bill in Congress,
intended ostensibly to protect children, would require filters
as a condition of federal funding.
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VarsityBooks
hopes to buy market share
WASHINGTON,
August 18, 1999
-- In a massive mailing to professors, VarsityBooks.com offered
a $10 discount to students who buy $100 from the on-line store.
Profs were told to give their students a special web address for
the discount: www.varsitybooks.com/gift.
The company emphasized delivery as one to three days.
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TAA prepares
authoring monograph
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, August 18, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors is compiling advice from members
for beginning authors, Ron Pynn, executive director, announced.
He asked TAA members to contribute their experiences, which he
said would be compiled as a "compendium of useful information"
that TAA can make available to young academics. "TAA will offer
this monograph as a premium to entice these academics to join
TAA," he said. "It should also provide interesting reading for
our members!"
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Harcourt
seeks state OK for web-university
BOSTON,
August 18, 1999
-- Textbook publisher Harcourt plans to seek Massachusetts state
licensure in mid-September for its proposed virtual university,
said Robert Antonucci, the former state education commissioner
who is in charge of trhe project. He said accreditation isn't
likely until mid-February. Then Harcourt will apply for accredidation
from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. If the
timetable holds true, Harcourt University will be offering courses
on-line in September 2000. Deans are being hired now, and staff
will be brought on board soon to create the first 120 courses,
he said.
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NACS creates
on-line template for stores
OBERLIN,
Ohio, August 19, 1999
-- The National Association of College Stores created a format
for its bricks-and-mortar members to have an on-line presence.
Said spokesperson Jerry Buchs: "If stores are on-line, we believe
college students will get the best of both worlds -- 24-hour,
seven-day-a-week access to the bookstore with the ability to shop
from their own room at 3 a.m. if they want to, and a physical
store right around the corner if they need to ask a question."
More than 100 NACS stores are trying the on-line template this
fall.
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Veteran
authors praises TAA advice
OXFORD,
Ohio, August 25, 1999
-- Text and Academic Authors member Nancy Humbach, a language
education professor at Miami University, said she thought TAA's
convention in Park City, Utah, in June was one of the most useful
she had ever attended. "I learned so much about publishing, even
though my 15th textbook is coming out this fall," said Humbach.
"I also realized the mistakes I made in negotiating contracts
and I was particularly interested in the information about electronic
publishing. The attorneys gave outstanding advice and information."
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Delegation
named for world copyright meeting
AMSTERDAM,
August 26, 1999
-- Three Text and Academic leaders will attend the International
Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations annual meeting
Oct. 19 and 20, which will deal with reparation of copyright collections
in several countries. The TAA delegates: Ron Pynn, executive director;
Mike Sullivan, treasurer and TAA delegate to the Authors Coalition;
and John Vivian, past TAA president. It is through the Norwegian
reproduction rights organization Kopinor that U.S. authoring groups,
including TAA, receive extra funds to promote authoring.
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BigWords'
"Big Orange" tightens text delivery
SAN FRANCISCO,
California, August 26, 1999
-- On-line textbook retailer BigWords said its new Cincinnati
warehouse, dubbed Big Orange, has state-of-the art systems for
moving books from publishers to students. Ned Jackson, director
of distribution, said a "cutting edge" wireless supply chain system
allows direct e-commerce connections to all major publishers and
distributors. A bin-shelving system cuts stocking time, he said.
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Softbook
says e-books selling briskly
MENLO PARK,
California, August 26, 1999
-- Softbook Press, maker of the electronic Softbook, says although
it won't comment on the number of e-books it's sold since they
went on the market in fall 1998, "they're selling very well."
Most of their customers are enterprise and consumers, but they
are also selling to some schools.
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TAA Council
asked to OK Alliance Press deal
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, August 26, 1999
-- A deal between Text and Academic Authors and a Texas publisher,
Alliance Press, is ready to sign, seal and deliver, said Ron Pynn,
TAA executive director. Pynn asked TAA Council members for final
input. With approval, he said, TAA members could be working with
"author-friendly contracts" with Alliance by spring semester.
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Journals
on TAA New Orleans slate
MURFREEBORO,
Tennessee, August 27, 1999
-- Three journal editors have been lined up for a panel for journal
contributors at the TAA national convention, program Chair Chris
Harris said. The Friday afternoon panel will include Jay Black
(University of South Florida-St. Petersburg), of Journal of
Mass Media Ethics; Jim Kelly (Southern Illinois University),
Visual Communications; and Robert Bray (Middle Tennessee
State University), Tennessee Williams Journal "It'll be
everything you wanted to know about academics," Harris said. At
least one additional panelists will be announced later.
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Rowman
& Littlefield: We're among largest indies
LANHAM,
Maryland, August 28, 1999
-- With 12 acquisitions in the past two years, Rowman & Littlefield
has become one of the nation's largest independent publishers,
said President James Lyons. The most recent acquisition: Technomic's
educational administration list. Lyons said its acquired units
are being left to operate autonomously.
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