TODAY'S NEWS

U.S. Drives Gains at Penguin  
by Jim Milliot
Led by strong gains in sales and earnings from Penguin Group USA, adjusted operating profit at Penguin rose 12% in 2007, to £74 million ($148 million), while sales slipped to £846 million ( $1.69 billion) from £848 million. Excluding currency fluctuations, profits were up 20% and revenue 3%. The jump in profits resulted in an 8.7% operating margin in 2007, and Penguin chairman John Makinson said the company expects to hit parent company Pearson's stated goal of 10% margins in 2008.

Makinson said sales were "well up" at Penguin USA, flat in the U.K, slightly off in Australia, and down a bit at DK; while DK's core publishing had a good year, sales in Brady Games were off, Makinson said. The group also received strong contributions from Penguin India, where sales rose 70%, and in South Africa where sales increased 23%. Penguin's China operation chipped in with a "few million dollars" in sales, Makinson said. Helping to drive the bottomline was improved supply chain efficiencies in the U.K. and improved gross margins in the U.S. Read on »

B&N.com Debuts New Multimedia Section and Two Weekly Video Series
By Lynn Andriani
Following a major redesign last fall, Barnes & Noble unveiled a new section of its web site today. Barnes & Noble Studio will collect a range of original content on books, readers and writers and showcase web video series and other multimedia content. B&N.com v-p and head of digital media Mike Skagerlind said, "Barnes & Noble Studio will do for the book what the cooking show did for the recipe."

The Studio debuts today with two new web video series, Barnes & Noble Tagged! and Book Obsessed. More original productions and content will launch in the coming months, the company announced in a release this morning. Tagged! is a magazine-style weekly web series hosted by actress Molly Pesce (she also hosts Animal Planet's Backyard Habitat) where, she explains in this week's 4-minutes-long video, "we search out the best and the juiciest from the world of books." Among the books Pesce highlights in the first program are Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart (Simon & Schuster), Linda Fairstein's Killer Heat (Doubleday) and Jeffrey Archer's A Prison Diary (St. Martin's). The other video, Book Obsessed, interviews readers around the country who are passionate about books. This week's video introduces readers to a woman in Dallas who loves romance novels. The piece mentions the woman's favorite author (Julie Garwood) as well as some specific titles. Read on »

Great Lakes Booksellers Visit Manhattan
by Kevin Howell
Every year, Jim Dana, executive director of the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, takes a few members to New York for some face time with major publishers to remind the houses that the Midwest still sells books and offer the booksellers a chance to highlight their accomplishments.

Suzy Takacs's bookstore, The Book Cellar, opened in the Lincoln Square area of northern Chicago in 2004 and thanks to a liquor license, she was able to mix two of her favorite things: books and wine with a wine bar inside her bookstore. "Lots of people had done books and coffee," said Takacs. "But books and wine seemed to be a natural union." The café takes up about one-third of the store's 2,400 sq.-ft. space. Read on »

Three Answers from Lori Glazer, v-p, executive publicity director at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
by Dick Donahue
Glazer talks with PW about the challenges of her job, the new Starbucks selection, and Houghton's integration with Harcourt. Read on »

PW's Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 3/3.08

This week: lies (regarding oil independence), liars (influential pre-invasion war proponent Ahmed Chalabi), myths (of small-business ownership) and financial ruin (at the hands of lenders). Also: a definitive new biography of Marcus Garvey, a piercing look at America's "security-industrial complex," Hemingway and Heston finally drop a CD, and more. Read on »

Blogs

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: A Million Is Not Enough; Undecided Voter Help; India, Unwrapped
Today, Oprah chats with chef Jamie Oliver, author of Cook With Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook (Hyperion, $37.50). PW starred its review, calling it "what may be his best book yet." Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Gothic And Lolita Bible Hits the U.S.
TOKYOPOP Senior Editor Jenna Winterberg (left) and Editor Michelle Nguyen at the launch party for the Gothic & Lolita Bible, published by TOKYOPOP. The event was held at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, CA, and celebrated the premiere English edition of the Gothic & Lolita Bible, which has played an instrumental role in defining the Japanese Lolita style around the world. The quarterly publication is a combination art book, culture guide, and fashion magazine. Volume 1 of the U.S. edition offers content from four volumes of this definitive Japanese publication for the first time in English, along with exciting original content covering the Gothic and Lolita culture in North America. Read on »

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION