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February
1999
PROFIT
LOSS
Tribune
Education: Sales grew 56 percent to $329.3 million for the
latest fiscal year.
Wolters
Kluwer: Profits rose 18 percent to $123 million, attributed
to a strong market for WK's U.S. tax publications.
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R.I.P.
Leonard Arlington
Leonard Arlington,
who wrote The Changing Economic Structure of the Mountain West,
died February 11 in Salt Lake City. He was 81.
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Study:
Pricing patterns hard to find
NEW YORK,
February 1, 1999
-- The emergence of on-line discount textbook retailers has increased
the spread in selling prices, according to a Text and Academic
Authors random check. In general but not always, the discounts
have prices below campus stores at Stanford University and the
University of Washington, which were used as a baseline. The claim
of VarsityBooks and BigWords that they offer discounts up to 40
percent, the emphasis should be on the "up to." Little pattern
could be discerned in the comparative check. Here's data for texts
by leading TAA authors:
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Panel looks
at journal changes
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, February 2, 1999
-- Former journal editor Jay Black, of the University of South
Florida-St. Petersburg, will moderate a panel on the pros and
cons of journal publishing trends at the Text and Academic Authors
national convention. The topic: "Hardening of the Articles." Said
Black: "Many journals are undergoing changes in publishing, and
universities are reassessing the nature and value of tenure and
promotion." The panel of scholarly journal editors, Black said,
will exploree the the changing relationships among authors, editors
and universities.
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Forecast:
Campus stores losing share
WASHINGTON,
February 3, 1999
-- The chief executive of on-line text retailer VarsityBooks.com,
Eric Kuhn, predicted half of all textbook purchases will be on-line
by the year 2002. What about campus stores? Change is inevitable,
Kuhn said. VarsityBooks lists 400,000 titles, has sales agreements
with 57 colleges, and is lining up publishers to encourage on-line
purchases. So far, Thomson has signed on, in part because VarsityBooks
discounts make new books cheaper than used books in many cases.
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Answers,
questions on self-publishing
GREENFIELD,
Wisconsin, February 4, 1999
-- A three-hour workshop on self-publishing, conducted by Frank
Silverman, author of 12 books, some self-published, will be held
at Text and Academic Authors national convention in June. Silverman
will draw from a book he is writing and self-publishing. Among
topics: Preparing camera-ready print and electronic copy, setting
up a small press for $500 or less, printing and binding, and marketing.
Registration required.
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Grapevine:
S&S chief to Reed
LONDON,
February 4, 1999
-- The chief executive at U.S. publisher Simon & Schuster, Jonathan
Newcomb, is expected to be named to head a newly consolidated
Reed Elsevier, the Financial Times reported. In New York,
Newcomb declined comment. Reed directors voted last summer to
combine its separate Amsterdam and London headquarters under a
single chief executive.
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Cambridge
starts on-demand printing
NEW YORK,
February 4, 1999
-- Cambridge University Press entered a deal with Ingram's Lightning
Print for on-demand printing. The first upload is 113 titles in
history, music, social science and science. Five-hundred more
titles will be added in March, Cambridge said.
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Barnes
& Noble site due soon
NEW YORK,
February 4, 1999
-- Barnes and Noble has chosen a web address for its new on-line
discount textbook site: www.textbook.com.
B&N said 6 million titles will be available with discounts. Used
books will also be available.
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"Publishers,
authors under siege"
POWDER
SPRINGS, Georgia, February 4, 1999
The chief executive of the Association of American Publishers,
Pat Schroeder, will speak at Text and Academic Authors national
convention on the dissing of publishers that seems popular today.
Convention program chair Paul Tippens said the title of Schroeder's
keynote will be: "Why Are Content Producers and Providers Under
Siege." Schroeder speaks at 9 a.m., Friday, June 24, at Shadow
Ridge Lodge in Park City, Utah.
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Newsletter
features math author
WINONA,
Minnesota, February 7, 1999
-- Unable to find a job in engineering after college, Pat McKeague
decided on teaching -- a pivotal decision. Today McKeague, of
San Luis Obispo, California, is the author of 10 textbooks, all
leaders in their fields. McKeague's story is featured in the new
issue of the Academic Author, which was mailed to Text and Academic
Authors members this week.
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Ideal site
adds med journals
NEW YORK,
February 7, 1999
-- Nineteen medical journals published by Churchill Livingston
and Saunders will be added to the Ideal on-line system. With the
new titles, Ideal, operated by Harcourt, will have almost 200
full-text journals on-line.
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Trying
to make sense of on-line deals
NEW YORK,
February 8, 1999
-- A price comparison of 20 leading textbooks, conducted by Text
and Academic Authors, found confused pricing structures -- or
perhaps a lack of structure. Kim Pawlak, who compiled the data,
concluded that patterns were impossible to divine:
- VarsityBooks.com
was cheaper than BigWords, Amazon.com, efollett and Barnes &
Noble for eight of the 20 textbooks.
- VarsityBooks.com
was the most expensive for two of the 20 textbooks. For one
it was more expensive than Stanford's campus store.
- BigWords
was cheaper for nine of the 20 textbooks, but most expensive
for one of the 20.
- Amazon.com
was the cheapest for one of the 20, but most expensive for 11
of the 20.
- efollett
was the cheapest for only one of the 20, and most expensive
for nine of the 20.
- Barnes
and Noble was the cheapest one of the 20, and expensive for
five of the 20.
- Stanford
was the most expensive three out of seven. It was the cheapest
one out of seven, but was cheaper than efollett five times,
Amazon.com four times and Barnes and Noble four times.
- The University
of Washington campus store was cheaper than efollett, Amazon.com
and Barnes and Noble once.
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Workshop:
Book proposal how-to
GRAND FORKS,
North Dakota, February 7, 1999
-- A veteran author and an acquisition author will conduct a workshop
on writing "a winning book proposal" at the Text and Academic
Authors convention. Ron Pynn, a political science writer, and
Greg Vis, senior editor for health and allied health at Jones
& Bartlett, will take up developing the idea, and preparing, submitting
and reviewing the proposal -- and dealing positively with negative
responses. Participants who bring drafts of book proposals will
receive a critique at the three-hour Thursday evening session.
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PROFIT
LOSS
Houghton
Mifflin: Sales rose 8.1 percent to $861.7 million and net
income 27.7 percent to $63.6 million in 1998.
McGraw-Hill:
Education sales rose 3 percent to $1.6 billion and operating profits
7.7 percent to $202.1 million in 1998.
Primedia:
Sales rose 22.9 percent to $330.8 million in 1998.
Tribune
Education: Sales grew 56 percent to $329.3 million for the
latest fiscal year.
Wiley:
Sales grew 8 percent to $245.7 million and net income 45 percent
to $19.8 million in the first half, compared to a year earlier.
Wolters
Kluwer: Profits rose 18 percent to $123 million, attributed
to a strong market for WK's U.S. tax publications.
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Book trade
exec: Raiders are threat
WASHINGTON,
February 6, 1999
-- The president of the Association of American Publishers,Pat
Schroeder, says text and academic authors will be challenged to
protect their right to charge for their content in the 21st century.
"Those who developed the technology to send electronic reserves
anywhere in the world are shocked that we won't give our content
away," she said. Schroeder will discuss what text and academic
authors can do to protect their content during her keynote speech,
"Why are Content Producers and Providers Under Siege?" at the
Text and Academic Authors convention in Park City, Utah, June
25.
"Technology
was moved into Washington and sold to everybody as an answer to
all our ills," Schroeder said. "But they oversold it. Content
didn't come inside the computer. There were debates that if we
bought every 8-year-old a laptop computer it would solve all of
our problems, that the laptop would open and be magically programmed
to say, 'Hi, 8-year-old.'"
Schroeder
says content people are kind of asleep when it comes to this issue.
Since authoring is not a regulated industry, content providers
are not active in lobbying. "Those who want to use content say
it should be free," she said. "It's so easy to access. Content
providers need to wake up and get organized. They should be very
concerned."
In the 21st
century, Schroeder said, the main products will be those produced
with the brain, and it will be up to those producers to protect
their right to charge for it: "Those who invented computers say
only the greedy would be charging for content, but they aren't
giving away their computers, are they?"
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Injunction
halts online censoring act
PHILADELPHIA,
February 8, 1999
-- The U.S. Child On-line Protection Act was put on hold by federal
Judge Lowell Reed pending consideration of constitutional challenges.
The American Civil Liberties Union, with support from the nation's
book publishers, has charged that the law cannot protect children,
as it's intended to do, without. denying information to adults.
Reed's injunction against government enforcement is expected to
remain in effect until a trial.
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Follett
sees textbook retailing mix
NEW YORK,
February 9, 1999
-- Book retailing giant Follett, which operates 500 campus stores,
has been in the on-line business since 1995, selling textbooks,
clothing and gifts. In January 1999, the company launched a new
brand, efollett, linking 150 of its brick-and-mortar campus stores
under a single virtual roof. Scott Deaton, a Follett senior vice
president, said, "It's just another way for our customers to shop.
There will always be people who want to come into stores."
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Follett
sees on-line sales as part of mix
NEW YORK,
February 9, 1999
-- Follett, whose interests include a nationwide chain of 500
campus stores, began providing local on-line book service in 1995,
selling textbooks, clothing and gifts and providing information
on textbook adoptions. In January 1999, the company launched efollett,
linking 150 of its brick-and-mortar campus stores under a single
virtual roof. "You can buy from any bookstore no matter where
you are," said Scott Deaton, a Follett senior vice president.
Follett spent
$3 million in January promoting the site. The company aired 30-second
spots during the Fiesta Bowl and ran full-page ads in USA Today
and other ads on television and radio. "Sales have been pretty
steady ever since," Deaton said. "The hits are in the billions
now."
The Follett
strategy, he said, is not to play with price. Instead the company
offers:
- Convenience
shopping 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
- The right
textbooks for the right class and those textbooks delivered
on time.
- Partnerships
with colleges.
- Inventory
in stock.
- Used books.
95 percent of the time, used books will be cheaper than any
other online bookstore's.
"It's just
another way for our customers to shop," he said. "There will always
be people who want to come into stores." Efollett doesn't offer
discounts, but instead offers e-credits, a 5 percent credit that
can be applied to the next purchase. The company plans to add
new products and services in the future including clothing, gifts
and supplies and an online buy back function.
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Wadsworth
putting civics texts on-line
BELMONT,
California, February 9, 1999
-- Wadsworth will put four American government textbooks on the
Bravo internet learning network. The on-line products being put
together by Universal Learning Technology, which operates Bravo:
- Barbara
Bardes' American Government and Politics Today: Essentials.
- Beth Henschen
and co-authors' Essentials of America at Odds.
- Stephen
Schmidt and co-authors' American Government and Politics.
- Edward
Sidlow and co-authors' America at Odds.
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Projection:
Half of text sales on-line
WASHINGTON,
February 10, 1999
-- Business has boomed at upstart VarsityBooks.com, an on-line
textbook retailer, leading the company to project that half of
all text sales will be on-line in four or five years. "Our hits
have increased multiple times since last semester," said VarsityBooks
communication director Jodi Gershoni. "As awareness increase,
so will sales."
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VarsityBooks
keen on web future
WASHINGTON,
February 10, 1999
-- Based on how sales have grown in the last two semesters, VarsityBooks.com
projects that 50 percent of all textbook sales will be on-line
in four or five years. "Our hits have increased multiple times
since last semester," said VarsityBooks communication director
Jodi Gershoni. "As awareness increase, so will sales."
VarsityBooks.com,
an on-line bookstore launched by Eric Kuhn and Tom Levy in December
1997, has launched a multi-million dollar national marketing campaign
using print and radio ads, on-line ads and partnerships, and a
grassroots army of student marketing representatives. Last year
the company focused on the five largest Washington-area colleges.
Now it has formed a marketing partnership with International Thomson
Publishing to steer students and faculty to VarsityBooks.com.
Students go
to the VarsityBooks.com site and search either by their college
or by title, author or ISBN. Books are at discounts up to a 40
percent. The average discount, according to Gershoni, is 25 percent.
Books are shipped via UPS. "No other on-line site offers the savings,
the book lists and the fast delivery time," Gershoni said.
While other
on-line bookstores offer free shipping, VarsityBooks.com doesn't.
This is because VarsityBooks has chosen to emphasize quick delivery,
Gershoni said. Most on-line bookstores ship in two to three weeks,
she said. VarsityBooks.com focuses only on new books and has no
future plans to expand into used. Gershoni said a survey of students
found that if the price were the same for a used or new book,
they would choose new. "We provide students with new book prices
low enough so students can afford them," she said.
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Pearson
makes new digital move
NEW YORK,
February 12, 1999
-- Pearson Education signed up Versaware Technologies to publish
digital versions of textbooks with Versaware software. Harry Fox,
Versaware president, said his firm has devised ways to cut the
time and expense of converting text and graphic files into formats
for CD-ROM's, DVD's and the web. Fox said the Pearson deal is
not exclusive.
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Doubts
raised over on-line promises
LOS ANGELES,
February 12, 1999
-- The chair of the National Association of College Stores course
materials committee, Dan Archer, says students will come away
disappointed with on-line textbook purchases. Then, he said, the
current surge of interest in these new outlets will fade. "What
happens when books need to be returned? What happens when faculty
send their adoptions and then change the adoption several times
before classes start?" he asked. On-line retailers are not equipped
to deal with those situations, Archer said.
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Bookstore
exec: On-line surge will fade
LOS ANGELES,
February 12, 1999
-- More than seven on-line book stores have opened virtual doors
on the web, touting cheaper books and better service than what
they call "brick and mortar" campus stores. Two of the seven,
VarsityBooks.com and efollett, have even launched multi-million
dollar campaigns with 30-second ads running during the Fiesta
Bowl, and full-page ads in USA Today.
Are these
stores the wave of the future?
The chair
of the National Association of College Stores course materials
committee, Dan Archer, doesn't think so. He compares the recent
surge of on-line bookstores to the gold struck at Sutter's Mill
-- a perceived fantasy. Archer said. more people lost their shirts
than became rich.
Archer believes
most on-line bookstores don't understand the margins like they
should. The discounts they provide are not realistic, he said,
which means they can't stay afloat for long by offering those
prices. "They're clearly not interested in only the book business,"
he said. They are interested, he said, in getting market impact,
to get their branded name out, and to get hits on the site. Soon,
they will be requiring students to go through a virtual gift store
before they reach the books, much like traditional stores do when
they place merchandise at the front of the store, said Archer.
"They are
basing their business model on the customer-for-life: If you can
hook somebody at their prime age, particularly in college -- they
will be customers for life. If people knew what their real motive
was, they wouldn't be as interested in their product." He says
most on-line operations are more interested in getting the attention
of advertisers on their sites, as an additional revenue stream,
than to making textbook services easier and better for students.
Archer says
he has waited a long time to see students have multiple places
to go to purchase books. Options are good, he said, , but the
on-line bookstores' claims that they can deliver a book faster,
with no long lines, isn't entirely true. At the University of
Southern California, where Archer manages the campus store, there
has never had been a line longer than eight minutes, he said.
His store, Archer said, orders everything that the faculty request,
so students have the books they need right away. Stores with poor
customer service or those that aren't flexible could be affected
by on-line bookstores, he acknowledged, but he added that those
who are in tune with what customers want will survive.
A problem
for on-line bookstores is that they may see hits initially, said
Archer, but as more on-line stores are launched, the market will
dwindle. "Owners of on-line bookstores will drop them and go to
other, more profitable markets," he said.
Archer said
he's heard a lot of hostility aimed at on-line bookstores from
traditional campus stores, but he isn't overly concerned. Once
they see what a headache it can be to deal with faculty and students,
they'll go elsewhere, he said: "What happens when books need to
be returned? What happens when faculty send their adoptions and
then change the adoption several times before classes start? They're
not equipped to deal with those changes. If you show customers
a true, sincere interest in service, it will force them back to
you."
On-line bookstores,
he said, only have about 20 percent of the market. That 20 percent,
he said, will be continually attacked by more on-line stores competing
with them. "If you've got books on shelves the first day of class
you have a strategic advantage over on-line bookstores," Archer
said. "Students don't want to order books until they start the
class to see if the instructor is really going to use the book
or not. They don't want to wait a week to get the book. They want
to buy it the first day of class. On-line bookstores can't do
that."
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DVD Empire
to sell Rocket ebook
NEW YORK,
February 13, 1999
-- NuvoMedia, manufacturer of the Rocket eBook, signed DVD Empire
to retail the product. Other distributors for the $499 electronic
book hardware are expected to be announced later. The book will
deliver content from HarperCollins, Holt, McGraw-Hill, Random
House and Simon & Schuster.
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Provost
puts rights idea on hold
PASADENA,
California, February 14, 1999
-- Faculty concern over retaining the copyright to their articles
in scholarly journals never jelled at the California Institute
of Technology even after Provost Steven Koonin posed the issue
of lost access. Koonin said he was surprised that the issue of
turning over and losing rights to their work didn't "grab the
working faculty." His proposal for a Caltech policy requiring
faculty to retain the legal right to their work didn't come "at
the right time," and he will let it lie dormant, Koonin said.
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Provost:
Profs unconcerned on rights
PASADENA,
California, February, 14, 1999
-- The provost of the California Institute of Technology, Steven
Koonin, said the reaction to his proposed policy for faculty-authors
to retain copyrights for journal articles was more "muted" than
he expected. "This doesn't seem to be an issue that's grabbing
the working faculty largely because there's no economic impact
to them," Koonin said.
Caltech faculty
began a three-month discussion of the issue on a closed on-line
forum in October. Koonin said the discussion evolved from copyright
to the issue of access. "The fears are that in a pay-per-view
world, which may very well be coming, it may be a lot harder to
get access to back issues," he said. "By and large nobody seemed
to exercised about the copyright issue, which surprised me a bit."
Koonin said
because of the faculty reaction, Caltech will institute no change
in its present practice, but will try to work with academic societies
to ensure that things are done equitably and fairly. "I guess
I have to actually threaten to do something, and I don't think
it's the time to do that," he said. "In the end the administration
could post it as a policy, but I don't think this is the right
time for me to try to push things that far."
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TAA seeks
text proposal experiences
GRAND FORKS,
North Dakota, February 15, 1999
-- Authors were asked to submit textbook proposals to Text and
Academic Authors to share with other authors. Ron Pynn, executive
director, said the proposals would be used first at a workshop
at the association's Park City convention. Pynn asked for positive
and negative reactions to proposals and also anecdotes.
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"Loose
lips" irk magazine
NEW YORK,
February 16, 1999 --
The magazine Cooking Light blackballed a free-lance writer
because he shared contract details with other authors, the American
Society of Journalists and Authors reported. Magazine editor Doug
Crichton declined comment. ASJA had run a critical article on
Cooking Light's contracts, drawn partly from the banned
writer's experience. Said ASJA: "Editor Crichton would like freelancers
to stop trading news about publishers. That isn't going to happen."
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Suit protests
gay book ban
BARRON,
Wisconsin, February 17, 1999
-- The Wisconsin Civil Liberties Union sued the school system
for removing four books with gay themes from the Baron high-school
library. Attorney Christopher Ahmuty, representing the civil liberties
union, called the removal "censorship of the most damaging kind."
School Board attorney William Thiel said the books have "pervasive
vulgarity and obsessive obscenities." A parent who opposes the
removal, Maureen Wigchera, said: "Some of the material may be
controversial, but if they don't have access to that, how will
they be prepared when they leave and get out into the more diverse
world. You can't shelter kids from everything." Banned:
- Baby
B-Bop.
- The
Drowning of Stephan Jones.
- Two
Teenagers in Twenty.
- When
Someone You Know Is Gay.
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Feds receive
five Pearson comments
WASHINGTON,
February 18, 1999
-- The deadline for authors to respond to the U.S. Antitrust Divisions
tentative approval of the sale of Simon & Schuster's reference,
professional and textbook units to Pearson ended. Anti-trust investigator
John Poole said five comments were received -- all generally critical
of the revised plan, which called for Pearson selling off 55 titles
alleve competitive problems. "People feel we could have been stronger,"
Poole said. "There was also some concern over the divestitures."
Poole declined to be more specific, saying the case is in the
deliberation stage: "We don't want to comment until all the comments
have been read and discussed." Poole said the comments and Anti-Trust's
review will be posted in the Federal Register.
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