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The year from A to Z

21.12.07 Liz Bury

A lot can happen in a year. The Bookseller picks the highlights of 2007.

Alan Sutton is cock-a-hoop in February as he buys back Sutton Publishing from Haynes, and adds it to a collection of local history imprints, together called NPI Media Group. But by November, his empire is in some difficulty, with agents clamouring for royalties and staff hot-footing it out the door.

Borders parades in front of potential suitors, from which Luke Johnson’s private equity group, Risk Capital Partners, emerges triumphant in September, installing David Roche as chief executive. The price, £10m upfront plus further possible payments up to £10m, is reportedly cheap owing to the “credit crunch”.

Caroline Michel is rarely out of the headlines after being named chief executive of agency Peters Fraser & Dunlop in September. Many of the firm’s existing agents walked—and were then fired—in a bizarre and twisted saga, which looks likely to end in court.

Discount fever takes hold in July as independent booksellers bewail half-price offers on Harry Potter. Summer reads are again price-led, and Christmas sees no lack of half-price stickers. Curiously, though, the average selling price is up to £7.47 in the year to 8th December, compared to £7.43 for the same period in 2006, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Earls Court is the site of a spiritual homecoming for the London Book Fair after its unpopular foray into deepest east London in 2006 left publishers and agents less than satisfied. The return to west London is a triumph: roll on 2008.

Fopp flops in June and calls in administrators who eventually close 81 branches of the cash-strapped chain. Publishers and customers mourn their loss, while HMV cherry-picks seven city stores, and buys Fopp’s website and brand name.

Green is the buzzword of 2007 as publishers seek to establish their eco-friendly credentials. Penguin’s raft of initiatives includes removing all waste paper baskets from its office, HarperCollins becomes the first publisher to go “carbon neutral” and Hachette Livre says it will implement firm sale on backlist by the end of 2008. A “book trade Kyoto” from the BA/PA Liaison Group’s Environmental Action Group aims to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2015.

Harcourt Education International becomes part of Pearson Education after it pays £480m to Reed Elsevier for the business in May; two months later, Houghton Mifflin buys Harcourt US Schools division from Reed for £1.95bn.

Independent booksellers criticise the Booksellers Association for its perceived lack of support: the BA responds by launching Independents’ Week, due to run each year from July 2008 with the strapline “Love Your Local Bookshop”. Meanwhile, Faber’s Independent Alliance  adds its 10th and final publisher, Granta.

Jordan, a.k.a. Katie Price—whose Being Jordan in 2004 opened the floodgates for celebrity autobiographies—wins this year’s prize for the most-pictured author in The Bookseller by launching Jordan: A Whole New World, her second autobiography, in paperback; Crystal, her second novel; and Katie Price’s Perfect Ponies series of children’s books.

Kindle launched last month to a mostly positive reception in the UK. The e-book reader from Amazon.com, on sale in the US only for $399 (£198), is already out of stock. The BA’s Digital Task Force urges collaboration between booksellers and publishers in developing the digital market.

Little, Brown snaps up Piatkus Books in July, in a deal described as a “perfect marriage” by Tim Hely Hutchinson, chief executive of LB’s parent, Hachette Livre UK. The deal was sparked by a chance conversation in Australia between Ursula Mackenzie, LB chief executive, and Philip Cotterell, Piatkus sales chief.

Museums Libraries & Archives Council abandons its Better Stock, Better Libraries campaign, to the relief of many, under the direction of new chief executive Roy Clare. Library spend on books falls 0.6% to £77.8m in 2006–07 compared to the year before. But this doesn’t put off Gardners from buying library supplier Askews in September.

Nobel Prize in Literature is won by Doris Lessing, 88, who, caught on the hop by reporters, is underwhelmed: “Oh Christ. One can get more excited. I’m sure you’d like some uplifting remarks. It’s been going on for 30 years. I’ve won every prize in Europe, every bloody one. So I’m delighted to win them all. It’s a royal flush.”

Oxford Street, 311, shuts its doors as Waterstone’s loses 10% of floor space following its takeover of Ottakar’s. Integration of the acquired chain leads to higher returns during the summer months; Waterstone’s promises to have a new, central distribution hub fully operational by 1st May 2008.

Profile Books pounces on Serpent’s Tail at the start of the year, making the literary fiction list part of an enlarged independent house. Pete Ayrton, Serpent’s Tail publisher, describes the arrangement as “a dream come true. It means I can devote myself to publishing and editing.”

Quick Reads wins renewed support from publishers, ending uncertainty over the immediate future of the project. The 2008 selection comprises books by John Bird, Josephine Cox, Terrance Dicks, Vanessa Feltz, Colin Jackson, Gilda O’Neill, Adele Parks, Scott Quinnell, Gordon Ramsay and Chris Ryan.

Richard and Judy disclose plans to axe their daily, Channel 4 chat show from 2009 and begin a standalone R&J Book Club format. Details are still under wraps. Meanwhile, their show will continue to run next year, with Best Reads and Summer Reads as before.

SPCK is renamed SSG after being taken over by orthodox Christian charity St Stephen the Great, which believes the 23 shops’ approach to range is too liberal. Staff departures rocket, with booksellers quitting branches in Durham, Exeter, Newcastle and Truro; the management at the Leicester branch buy back their shop from the new owners.

Turf wars get nasty as American publishers at BookExpo accuse UK publishers of “atavistic protectionism”, for insisting on exclusive European rights. Meanwhile, global publishers are keener than ever to secure world rights whenever they can. The debate continues . . .

Under water is where unfortunate booksellers find their premises in June, as heavy rains force Waterstone’s Hull and Sheffield Meadowhall branches to close, Audiobooksonline in Yorkshire is out of action for two days, and Nottingham’s Lowdham Book Festival is disrupted. A month later, more floods hit distributor Brynteg Books in Winchombe, Gloucestershire, forcing a total write-off of stock worth £400,000.

Virgin Books moves under Random House Group’s umbrella in March in a deal costing RHG £1m for the business, plus an undisclosed sum for a five-book deal with Sir Richard Branson. KT Forster, VB managing director, later bows out.

WHS’ strategy to focus on growing profits rather than sales proves sound: pretax profit rises 29% to £66m (before exceptionals), on sales down 3% to £1.3bn in the year to 31st August. Pretax margin is 5.1%, up from 3.8%, and the City’s estimation of Kate Swann, chief executive, rises too.

Xmas 2007 gets off to a promising start. The annual battle for number one is taking the unlikely form of a scrap between big-haired comedian Russell Brand and petrol-head Richard Hammond. Although Nigella Lawson could still flambé the pair of them.

Yes—says the Competition Commission in September to the merger of Bertrams and THE, following a six-month inquiry costing parent company Woolworths £180m. Despite protests from many independent booksellers and distributors, the CC finds no evidence for “substantial lessening of competition” if the merger goes ahead. Integration begins after Christmas.

Zippy sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows make it the fastest-selling book in history, after it clocks up 2,640,146 sales in its first 24 hours on release in the UK.

Flagship Feature Liz Bury Review of the year 2007

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