TODAY'S NEWS

Big Third Quarter Loss for Reader’s Digest; Search for Stevens Buyer Continues
By Jim Milliot
A one-time charge of $527 million tied mainly to a writedown of goodwill resulted in an operating loss of $535.9 million at Reader’s Digest for the third quarter ended March 31, compared to a loss of $8.2 million in the third period of fiscal 2008, the company said in a filing with the SEC. Total revenue fell 16.7%, to $479.1 million. Sales were off in all three operation segments, dropping 10.3% in the Reader’s Digest U.S. division, to $162.2 million, as most of the unit’s “affinity” groups were hurt by the recession. Among the areas that had soft sales were children’s publishing and certain direct mail titles in the food and entertainment group. International sales fell 23.6%, to $298.4 million, with results hurt by the change in currency translation and a decline in most of its major markets. Sales in the school & education group fell 3.5%, to $24.5 million. Read on »

Dover Introduces Flat Discount for Booksellers
By Jim Milliot
Dover used last week’s BookExpo America to introduce a new discount schedule aimed at making it easier for independent booksellers to do business with the company as well as REA and Creative Homeowner, the two other publishers that are part of Courier Corp.’s publishing operation. Effective immediately, indie booksellers that do $2,500 worth of business annually with Dover will get a 50% discount “on any order, any time,” said Eric Zimmerman, head of Courier’s publishing operation. Zimmerman explained that under the old discount structure, booksellers would often hold orders to meet minimum requirements, a tactic that often meant lost sales for both the store and Dover. In addition to doing $2,500 in net sales, the only other qualification to received the 50% discount is ordering $150 in net frontlist sales per season. Booksellers that do $1,250 in annual business with Dover plus order $100 in seasonal frontlist get a 48% discount. Read on »

Web Exclusive Reviews
Doug Stanton tells the story of mounted U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, C. David Heymann dishes on the post-JFK affair of Jackie and Bobby, Evan I. Schwartz chronicles L. Frank Baum, Reverend Jen divulges two years of "sexperiments," Marie Celeste Arranas shares life lessons, and Lawrence Block indulges his love of running (and racewalking). Plus: trips through Johannesburg and the former Soviet Union, a flaky fictional mom-com, and everything pickleable. Read on »

The PW Morning Report
By Craig Morgan Teicher
Lost Christie Mysteries Rediscovered; Book Digitization in Europe; Morrison Against Censorship; Slumdog Star to Publish Autobiography. Read on »

Blogs

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Soul Survivor; No Angel; Bloggers on the Bus
Today on Good Morning America, Andrea and Bruce Leininger introduced Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot (Grand Central Publishing, 978-0446509336, $24.99). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Snow in California
Green Living expert and TV Host Sara Snow recently met with fans at Once Upon a Time bookstore in Montrose, Calif., where she was promoting the paperback of Sara Snow's Fresh Living (Bantam). Pictured here (l. to r.) are: Once Upon a Time bookseller Judy Krueger; Snow; and mystery Author Alice Zogg. Submit your pictures here »

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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