Executable ISBNs: Not As Dull As it Sounds

Exact Editions are doing some very cool things with magazines and they like to build technical solutions that solve interesting problems. They have been working with The Bookseller, and as a derivative of this work they came up with a way for ISBNs listed in some of The Bookseller publications to become executable. Why this is interesting is that the widget they have built effectively 'picks' up the ISBN of the static page and takes you to a web site which at this point is Google. (BTW, Exact Editions are using the same or similar tool to pick up things like phone numbers off the pages of the magazines in their e-Catalog).

The Bookseller produces a buyers guide which I liked so much we copied the whole thing for the US market when I was at Bowker. (Even down to the color coding). As a simple listing within subjects it always retained significant value for buyers. Enabling a user to click on an executable ISBN and create a list, learn more about the title, navigate to the publisher or a retailer makes this widget both really cool and really functional. And isn't that exactly what you want.

The application is still experimental and according to Adam Hodgkin at Exact Editions they showed The Bookseller staff the application and they liked it so much they put it up immediately; hence, they are likely to change how it works as they see how it is used. To see it click here and then go to the What's Hot nav bar and click on Buyers Guide. Chose one of the covers on the page. Once inside the guide, go to any pages and run your cursor over the page. Each ISBN will light up inside a green box. You are on your own from that point.

My thoughts expressed to Adam were as follows:

This bookseller thing is great. So easy. I think there should be a store front however instead of Google. I understand the agnosticism but if I am clicking on the isbn – effectively either looking for more information or wanting to buy – it could be an anti-climax getting steered to Google. What The Bookseller should do is build dynamic pages that once someone clicks on the Isbn they come to a retail outlet page where the user can see the book vended from four or five or six possible vendors. The Bookseller could sell each of these slots or storefronts. Perhaps also, the landing page could show more from that publisher which again would be potential ad sales
revenue for The Bookseller.

Booksellers and librarians who use these guides and who migrate their book browsing to the web will really enjoy using this application and it will be interesting to see how it evolves. The Exact Editions widget application could also be implemented at other publications - consumer magazines, newspapers, reviews publications for example - that will make it easier for consumers to create their own buy lists and shopping carts without having to scribble down titles or rip pages out of magazines.

Interestingly, the gap between The Bookseller site and Publisher's Weekly continues to grow to PW's disadvantage IMHO.

Haights Cross For Sale

Haights Cross, which went through a corporate recapitalization last year has announced that it is placing itself up for sale. From the press release on the company's web site:

Paul J. Crecca, HCC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Upon the completion of our recapitalization in August 2007 and the constitution of our Board of Directors, we indicated we would evaluate all strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of all or substantially all of our assets. Throughout this process, the Haights Cross businesses and our committed employees have remained focused on providing customers with quality products and services, and thus strengthening their positions in the markets they serve. We believe that despite the current economic environment, these assets offer compelling value to prospective buyers.”

The company indicated that Evercore Partners would conduct the sale.

The Aussies aren't done with Beah

After last weeks rebuttal by Ishmael Beah regarding the points raised by The Australian newspaper, the journalists have come up with a point by point refutation of his argument. Essentially, they contend he still has not accounted for the fundamental inaccuracy in the book, and while the central element regarding his story is the length of time he served as a 'child soldier', other inaccuracies are also coming to light.

Commenting in their article The Australian says in part,

The Australian has believed that those inaccuracies were a result of Beah's memory being impaired by the trauma, drugs and extreme youth he describes in his book but the latest statement by Beah, who is now 27, and his publisher Sarah Crichton of Farrar, Straus & Giroux seriously misrepresent The Australian's reporting over the last week.

Beah is not going to change is story and perhaps there is a ready and acceptable notion in the minds of those familiar with the story that perhaps he suffered so much (and is a symbol of many other lost children) that we should therefore forgive some minor infraction. I was however, surprised at the view taken by Publisher's Weekly which effectively apologizes for every authors confusion with reality and fiction.

In this country, it's commonly known in the publishing industry that memoirs—even post–James Frey—are not stringently fact-checked; at most, they're submitted to legal departments looking for libel. Writers are responsible for their facts, and editors for probing their writers' hearts and souls and memories. In the case of A Long Way Gone, however, an excerpt (including the now-disputed dates) was fact-checked by the New York Times last January. “The fact-checking, as often happens, turned up a few discrepancies that were resolved without undermining the plausibility of his account,” Times spokesperson Diane C. McNulty said in an e-mail.

Apologizes but doesn't hold anyone accountable. PW goes on to say that in the memoir world no ones memory can be completely verified but in this case (and in countless others) just some basic fact checking might have raised a few flags. Note also, the incredible amounts paid for celebrity and political memoirs: Are we now to believe these might contain only a casual relationship to reality or are they true and close depictions of reality as the author knew it at the time. Possibly both. This book was sold as 'a truth' and in the pursuit of that truth it looks like anyone asking any pointed questions was patronized and rebuffed. Surely there are enough 'real' memoirs worth reading without embellishment and Long Way Gone is a case in point.

Hold on to your Sari

Reaction to the news that Mills & Boone are entering the Indian marketplace with a direct publishing operation could elicit a 'Duh!' especially, if you had any exposure to a Bollywood movie. Harlequin, owners of M&B has announced that they will be publishing locally produced romance titles in India later this year. The task looks slated for success on a number of fronts not least of which are the potential size of the Indian market and the veritable feast of potential story derivations. In fact, all they will need to do is copy the scripts of the 300 or so movies that are released each year and they will be on a winner.

From the TimesOnline:

“India is crazy about true romance,” Andrew Go, the head of the Indian operation, said. “Look at the basic Bollywood plot: boy meets girl; conflict; happy ending. We carry across that trend. We say we sell four books a second, Actually it’s 4.4. If I can take that to five, I’m a hero.”

India has the potential to hit Mr Go’s target: the popularity of the country’s lending libraries is declining as India’s burgeoning middle class opts to buy rather than borrow.

Interestingly, the expectation for success continues to rely on printed products. It will be interesting to see if Harlequin sees more rapid growth in their electronic products in this market where travel and access to products is still a challenge.

The company plans to follow formula similar to their developed markets which will include solicitation of local authors. They intend to offer some guideance to aspiring authors on the site. One thing they will change is to lower the hear somewhat which is unlikely to please Richard Gere.

For the Reader Who Has Everything

Tom Stoppard in the NYTimes this morning about his book satchel by T. Anthony. So, if you are wondering what to buy that avid reader, or if you are like Mr & Mrs. PND who, when travelling on vacation distribute their travel reading material across several suit cases, this is the gift for you. Unfortunately, T Anthony stopped making the book satchel many years ago and so you may be SOL. I quick check on Ebay this afternoon proved fruitless.

McGraw Hill Results

McGraw Hill reported their full year results on Thursday with revenues and net income up versus 2007. Revenues for 2007 of $6.8Billion were 8.3% higher versus 2006 and 2007 net income of $1.0billion was 14.9% higher versus 2006. Their stock price also got a kick on their more encouraging outlook for 2008. The company said they expect revenue growth in 2008 of 6% to 8% at McGraw-Hill Education and Information & Media, and a 2% to 4% increase at Financial Services. This exceeded analysts expectations.

Shares rose as much as 12.5 percent. Chief Executive Harold McGraw said he expects the U.S. economy and capital markets to show signs of recovery in the
second half of 2008, though a "housing recession" will likely persist all year. McGraw-Hill also publishes school textbooks and magazines such as BusinessWeek,
and owns researcher J.D. Power & Associates.

Despite these full year numbers, the company's results were significantly impacted by a slow fourth quarter - mainly due to the slow-down in credit market - and net income was almost half the level the company recorded in 2006. Revenues were off 1.5% versus 2006.

Other highlights from the press release:

Education: "Revenue for this segment in 2007 increased 7.2% to $2.7 billion compared to 2006. Operating profit in 2007 grew by 21.5% to $400 million. Included in the segment's 2007 operating profit is a pre-tax restructuring charge of $16.3 million in the fourth quarter for severance relating to a workforce reduction of 304 positions. In 2006, there were pre- tax restructuring charges of $5.6 million in the third quarter and $10.4 million in the fourth quarter.

Financial Services: "Revenue for this segment in 2007 increased by 10.9% to $3.0 billion compared to last year. Operating profit grew by 13.1% to $1.4 billion. Included in the segment's operating profit is a pre-tax gain of $17.3 million on the divestiture of a mutual fund data business in the first quarter and an $18.8 million pre-tax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter consisting mostly of severance relating to a workforce reduction of 172 positions, driven by the current business environment, as well as the consolidation of business support functions.

Information & Media: "Revenue for this segment in 2007 increased 3.6% to $1.0 billion compared to last year. Operating profit grew 27.2% to $63.5 million. Included in the segment's 2007 operating profit is a pre-tax restructuring charge of $6.7 million in the fourth quarter for severance relating to a workforce reduction of 114 positions. In 2006, there were pre- tax restructuring charges of $5.7 million in the third quarter and $3.0 million in the fourth quarter. The operating margin for 2007 was 6.2% versus 5.1% in 2006. Foreign exchange rates did not have a material effect on revenue, but reduced operating profit growth by $4.6 million.

Pearson Get Merger Clearance with Divestitures

Pearson received clearance from the US Justice department for the completion of their $950million acquisition of Harcourt Assessment which they purchased from Reed Elsevier. The court required that they divest a number of products which on the surface appear inconsequential to the entire deal. From PRnewswire:

"Without the divestitures obtained by the department, purchasers of clinical tests for adaptive behavior, speech and language, and adult abnormal personality likely would have faced higher prices and reduced innovation as a result of this transaction," said Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general for antitrust, in a statement.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Pearson and Harcourt must divest: Harcourt's adaptive behavior clinical test, the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System; Harcourt's adult abnormal personality clinical test, the Emotional Assessment System, which is under development; and in the speech and language clinical test market, either Pearson's Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language and the Oral and Written Language Scales or Harcourt's Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals. Under the proposed settlement, the Department's Antitrust Division must approve the buyer of each of the divested assets.

Given the breadth of the Harcourt and Pearson assessment offerings this resolution looks inconsequential; the subject areas are fairly narrow and specialized. Also, the release doesn't indicate whether Pearson is precluded from competing in these segments at some point in the future. There is likely to be any number of potential buyers - Reed Elsevier may buy them back, Wolters Kluwer may also be interested given their existing health titles.