S&S Quarter Down 5%

Sales for the third quarter ended September 30 fell 5% at Simon & Schuster, to $210 million, but operating income before depreciation and amortization rose to $39 million from $38 million in the 2011 comparable quarter. Digital sales rose 20% in the quarter, but were offset by lower sales of print titles, though the higher percentage of digital sales helped to increase profits.

HMH Buys Some Wiley Assets

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade and reference division has acquired John Wiley’s culinary portfolio plus reference works published under the Webster’s New World Dictionary and CliffsNotes brands. The acquisition will add about 1,500 titles to HMH, increasing the company’s presence in both the cookbook and reference areas.

Harper Teams with Donnelley

HarperCollins and R.R. Donnelley have signed a new agreement that will create one centralized warehouse to serve as the distribution site for all HC U.S. titles, including those published by its Christian publishing division that houses Zondervan and Thomas Nelson. Harper said it expects the new facility to be opened next summer and that it will close its two warehouses in Scranton, Pa., and Nashville.

Chadwick Replaces Orbach

At the special meeting of Quarto shareholders, company cofounder and CEO Laurence Orbach was removed as a director and replaced by Tim Chadwick.

Correction

In the last Deals column, the item on the foreign sales for J. Courney Sullivan’s The Engagements did not include the book’s domestic agent, Brettne Bloom at Kneerim, Williams & Bloom.