Overall book sales in the Czech Republic are up as the number of new titles published declines slightly. Industry consolidation and a focus on high-performing books may be the cause.
Industry Notes: Europa Editions’ New Imprint; Chicago Press Buys Council Oak
Winter moves among independent publishers: Nonfiction works are the focus in Europa Compass, and Chicago Review Press buys Oklahoma’s Council Oak Books.
Denmark’s UNSILO Working With BMJ; France’s Vivendi Approved To Buy Editis
UNSILO announces a partnership with journal publisher BMJ, while Vivendi is approved to close its acquisition of Editis in France.
Czech Republic’s Albatros Media Acquires Panteon Press
The expansionist drive at Prague’s Albatros Media continues with the company’s acquisition of Panteon, a press focused on adult fiction.
PRH Takes Majority Stake in Brazil’s Grupo Companhia das Letras
In a memo from CEO Markus Dohle, Penguin Random House announces majority ownership in Brazil’s largest trade publisher, Companhia das Letras.
Poland’s Online Bookseller Merlin.pl Acquires Profit M, Expanding Its Footprint in the Market
Talking, among other things, of developing an loyalty program for consumers based in blockchain tokens, a spokesman for Poland’s Merlin.pl talks about its latest move to gain dominance in the market.
Industry Notes: Zuiker Press’ Graphic Novels; Sweden’s Thunderful
The creator of television’s ‘CSI’ franchise and his wife create a new series of teen-told tales as graphic novels, Simon & Schuster distributing. And Sweden’s still young Thunderful Publishing has a new acquisition in Rising Star Games.
Czech Republic’s Children’s Publisher Albatros Media Buys Vyšehrad
Already estimated to hold some 17 percent of the Czech wholesale book market, Albatros Media this spring continues broadening its acquisitions portfolio by buying the country’s oldest publisher, gaining access to the adult nonfiction market in the process.
One Russian Textbook Publisher Sues Another Over Alleged Trademark Infringement
Russian publisher Prosveshchenie accuses Ventana-Graf of wrongfully using its logo on thousands of textbooks—and that those books are therefore ‘counterfeit.’
Industry Notes: Two PEN Chapters Merge, and Penguin Random House’s Acquisition of Rodale Books
‘Never have the voices of writers and their allies been so essential,’ says the leadership of the merging Los Angeles and New York City chapters of PEN. And one of the most robust lifestyle-and-wellness publishers in the States is now part of PRH.