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JULY 25, 2003 at 3:14 PM
Posted by CHEESER
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
Publishers like Scholastic
and Simon & Schuster should be celebrating. The successful release of the fifth Harry Potter book and the memoirs of former first lady Hillary Clinton was expected, but other publishers had hoped the book-buying bandwagon would help their sales as well. Instead, a stagnant economy and distracted public has quickly steered the focus away from booksellers.
Scholastic laid off 400 employees and in July said it will execute other cost-cutting measures. Simon & Schuster announced this week they would release 75 employees.
From the Associated Press:
"... the fact remains that our industry continues to be challenged by any number of issues, including the most prolonged period of depressed sales in memory," Simon & Schuster CEO Jack Romanos wrote in a companywide e-mail.
Amazon.com, anticipating tremendous competition for the Potter book, offered a 40 percent discount on the $29.99 suggested price. The result: Despite more than 1 million sales worldwide, the online retailer announced it essentially broke even with Order of the Phoenix.
While sales should be strong for the memoirs of former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Toni Morrison's new novel, Love, no fall releases are likely to sell in numbers approaching Potter.
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Witch
Points: 609
Aravis says:
Well, maybe other publishers has hoped that the enthusiasm of Harry Potter would be mean that suddenly boom! money starts falling out of the sky! Well, actually that people would start buying all sorts of books without looking at what they were ("Okay people! Time to raid the bookstores!". Therefore the publishers have given all sorts of crazy advances to authors with the hopes that their book will be the next Harry Potter (See the article on this site from the other day about that author being paid more than JKR). Well, the fact is that people have been reading more as a result of the OotP craze, but we haven't been blindly grabbing every book in the store. The economy isn't the best right now, at least in the US, and I'm sure publishers would have lost even more money if they hadn't had some sort of halo effect. I mean, booksellers and publishers are in a difficult position as fewer people read and books are not on most people's "necessity" list when it comes to cutting costs due to the economy. I mean, Harry Potter is a necessity as no other book is (in my opinion at least). I know Amazon is probably thrilled to break even and OotP helped its sales tremendously. I follow various stocks and earning statements and Amazon has had so many losses in the past because it spends a lot of money. Breaking even is positively something to celebrate for them. I am glad that booksellers at least had some business lately, although I know that the smaller bookstores had trouble competing with the discounts that stores sch as Amazon gave [i](I admit it...I bought mine from amazon...I am hopelessly addicted to that store). Anyway, just about every company in this country has had to lay off employees so it is not surprising or abnormal that the publishers would have to too. JHMO.
Posted Jul 25, 2003 at 3:43 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 993
Muggle Wizard says:
I think it's more than just the economic issues and the desire to find the next J.K. Rowling.
For me, the fact is that I don't have nearly as much time to read as I would like. This summer has been an exception (as is any time when there's an HP book I haven't read). :)
Aravis, as for Amazon, yeah, they have some interesting business practices that make them one of the (if not the) biggest electronic commerce sites on the web. But they seem to have forgotten what I consider to be the number one rule of business: a business can't survive if it doesn't turn a profit.
Posted Jul 25, 2003 at 3:58 PM EST
Lycanthropist for W.S.S.
Points: 3603
Alchemist 530 says:
I'm sure that Amazon made profit off of HPOOTP, but selling it at 40% off? I was wondering how they'd make that worthwhile for themselves. But I still feel bad for the people who lose their jobs, it's getting harder and harder to get a stable job =0(
Posted Jul 25, 2003 at 4:34 PM EST
Metamorphmagus
Points: 37946
tonks black says:
people are to greedy these days. i think they try to get more money than they need, so they start firing people who need the money to pay bills for their house and things like that.
Posted Jul 25, 2003 at 4:53 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1065
Lerah99 says:
Maybe there hasn't been a "Halo Effect" because Harry Potter has encouraged not just reading, but reading of good litterature. Lots of what is published, isn't worth the paper it is printed on. (Those poor trees sacrificed only to become tripe).
Plus, the economy being what it is, I know I get most of my reading fix at the library. (Sorry, I am a college student and I would need a second job to support my reading habits if I had to buy all the books I read.)
It is sad that the economy has taken such a horrible turn. Does anyone else remember us having a budget surplus just a few years ago? Ah, the good old days. :o)
Posted Jul 25, 2003 at 11:32 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2303
padfoot5312 says:
400 workers – that’s a lot of people out of work. Been there done that. They need to regroup and see where their problems were before, hopefully they didn't wait to long. Look at Kmart, Car Industry, and Apple Computer, etc. - they had to regroup and try to get back.
Lerah99 – I go to the library too. I can’t afford to buy books, where do they think we would put them. What if your allergy to dust. Can’t spend my time dusting all the time – so I pick what books I really want to buy and borrow the rest. Isn’t that want libraries are for?
Posted Jul 26, 2003 at 8:55 PM EST
Mediwitch
Points: 2608
nickyole1 says:
It is getting harder and harder for pople to keep their jobs in that kind of industry. I am glad that Harry POtter and the Order of the Phoenix did so well.
Posted Jul 27, 2004 at 12:44 PM EST