Houghton: Future bright after 2004

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 30, 2004 -- The good news for Houghton Mifflin will not be this year, said new chief executive Tony Lucki. He told shareholders that sales in 2004 probably will be off in the 5 to 9 percent range. Earnings too, he said. Lucki said el-hi adoption opportunities are limited this year. Also, college and other markets are not strong. For the long term, though, Lucki was optimistic: "Our goal this year is to position the company to compete very effectively in all its markets as adoption opportunities increase in 2005 and beyond." The year was by marked growth. El-hi sales were up 9.8 percent to $108.1 million. College sales were up 5.2 percent to $57 million. Trade and reference sales were off 11.6 percent to $29.9 million.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN TONY LUCKI

Publishers: Shop infringed rights

Poll: Kids in copyright bliss

Charge: California imperils learning

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2004 -- The president of the Association of American Publishers, Pat Schroeder, said the opportunity learn in California "has gotten worse" with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schroeder expressed shock and disappointment over the agreement between the governor and the California Education Coalition to eliminate all state funding for textbooks and other instructional materials. The agreement makes no sense, especially considering that the state is simultaneously restoring the high school exit exam as a graduation requirement, she said. If the state follows through with the proposed elimination of funding, Schroeder said California would be vulnerable in lawsuits for unfairly placing requirements on students. Schroeder said the book publishers and developers of instructional materials, "understand and accept the need for responsible cost-cutting but added: "It is truly hard to conceive of any category of funding for education that could be more important than the actual content of knowledge we seek to have our children learn."

SCHROEDER Association of American Publishers

R.I.P.: Stella Bernice Anderson

Cisco launches networking series

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 27, 2004 -- A joint project of Pearson Education and Cisco Systems, Cisco Press, plans to have six titles in its new First Step series on networking technology out by December. The first title, released in April, is Computer Networking First-Step by Wendell Odom. Next is Network Security First-Step, then LAN Switching First-Step. The authors are education and networking experts. First Step books are aimed at readers with little or no previous experience in networking, said Cisco. The books are designed as "an easy-to-grasp introduction to today's core networking topics," Cisco said.

PEARSON EDUCATION CISCO

Vivendi savior faces shareholder suit

PARIS, May 27, 2004 -- The executive brought in to save the imploding Vendi media company in 2002, Jean-Ren&eacut Fourtou, has been sued by a shareholders group that alleges his family trust bought a massive stake in a Vivendi bond issue at a critical point. The purchase was not disclosed as it should been, the suit alleges. At the time, Vivendi was trying to raise funds and to unload assets, including U.S. publisher Houghton Mifflin, in a desperate attempt to pay debts amassed under previous chief executive Jean-Marie Messier. The Fourtou trust bought EUR20 million of the high-yield refinancing bonds. The issue in the suit is not new. Responding to an ongoing investigation, Fourtou has said that nothing illegal occurred and that he even had consulted government regulator Gerard Rameix, who said it was OK. Rameix has denied his consent. Since the revelations, French securities laws have been amended to require disclosure of such dealing.

VIVENDI EARLIER ARTICLE New Vivendi chief lines up bankers Vivendi chooses drug executive

American Scholar editor on way out

Thomson sells financial training unit

AUSTIN, Texas, May 27, 2004 -- Media conglomerate Thomson sold the print publishing assets of its Sheshunoff Information Services to Alex Information and Highline Data. Sheshunoff, which operations in Austin, Texas, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, publishes how-to professional financial services materials. The company also has training courses and electronic work solutions for financial institutions.

SHESUNOFF INFOR- MATION

Oxford chief defends history texts

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2004 -- The new School Division publisher at Oxford University Press, Casper Grathwohl, told a symposium on history textbooks that critics tread too loudly and go too far. "It's easy to beat up on textbooks," Grathwohl said. "They try to do so much." Grathwohl based his conclusions on his own survey of the field after being named to the new Oxford position and inheriting the History of US by Joy Hakim, which, although phenomenally successful, has found bevies of critics. The good news about history texts, said Grathwohl, is that they are incorporating multiple viewpoints, which some traditionalists find unsettling. Authors also are finding intriguing, new ways to present material, he said. MORE Grathwalk was among speakers at a Library of Congress symposium. Another speaker, Joke van der Leeuw-Roord, said she has found nationalistic instincts an obstacle in creating new materials in her work with the European Standing Conference of History Teachers' Associations. Too many people want history be a "mirror of national pride and pain." She noted prolonged debates in which Poles, Germans and Dutch teachers struggled to get Warsaw, Rotterdam and Dresden into new materials that argued the Russians had suffered the most in World War II. "We had an enormous fight," said van der Leeuw-Roord. She agreed with Grathwohl about the value of building multiple perspectives into textbooks so pupils can see the world from the shoes of others. MORE

EL-HI HAKIM Her publisher says history books better than you think

R.I.P.: Margaret A. Blanchard

HILLSBOROUGH, North Carolina, May 25, 2004 -- Mass media historian Margaret Blanchard, a prolific author and much at home in the academic journals of her field. died at her home after a long illness. She was 60. Blanchard held the Kenan chair at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill school of journalism and mass communication. She had been at Chapel Hill since 1974. Her scholarship focused on media history and the First Amendment. She was a charter member of the Society of Academic Authors and a contributor to the sa2 news site.

PEGGY BLANCHARD 1944-2004 Her advice on writing your first textbook

What's a co-author worth? Try eBay

Daniel Domensch, superintendent of Fairfax County, Virginia, schools, was named senior vice president for national urban markets at McGraw-Hill Education. Phil Friedman, chief financial officer at Scholastic Library Publishing, who developed the Grolier online program, resigned, No immediate successor was announced. The resignation follows those of Trade Division vice president Michael Jacobs and chief financial officer Kevin McEnery in February. Christopher Jones, senior vice president at LexisNexis Risk Management Group, was named president and chief executive of Harcourt Education International. He succeeds John Philbin, who is retiring. Gary F. Kelly (psychology), Clarkson University, wrote the updated seventh edition of Sexuality Today (McGraw-Hill). Carl Warren (accounting), University of Georgia, and James M. Reeve (accounting), University of Tennessee, wrote Financial Accounting for Future Business Leaders (South-West).

Please tell us about your latest project: EDITOR More academic authoring people

British Medical Journal books sold

LONDON, May 25, 2004 -- The publisher of the British Medical Journal, BMJ Publishing Group, sold its medical book business to science publisher Blackwell. Terms were not announced. Richard Smith, BMJ chief executive, said that changing cost structures in medical publishing dictated that the company leave the book business and concentrate on journals. The company publishes 350 journals in health British Medical Journal, the oldest, was founded in 1840. The BMJ book list totals about 100. The sale includes the ABC reference books for researchers, clinicians and health professionals, as well as an in-progress series of evidence-based textbooks. Under Blackwell, the titles will carry both the BMJ and Blackwell imprints.

BLACK- WELL

Oakstone issues audio medical text

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, May 25, 2004 -- A Haights Cross health-care publishing unit, Oakstone Medical Publishing, issued a new audio recording, Topics in Mammography 2, for medial professionals. The self-study program that includes six hours of audio content and a 32-page study guide.

OAK- STONE

Educational Development Corporation: Sales grew 15.6 percent to $28.8 million in 2003, compared to the previous year. The publishing gain was 2 percent, the home sales gain 23 percent.

Princeton Review: Sales grew 17 percent to $89.2 million in 2003, compared to the previous year. Net income was $4.3 million, compared to a $1.1 million loss.

Chelsea expands social science list

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, May 24, 2004 -- The Haights Cross subsidiary Chelsea House has added 24 titles in five series to its Social Studies Library. The new titles, all supplemental books, are for Grades 9 to college. Topics include political boundaries, defeating terrorism and religions of the world.

CHELSEA HOUSE

Varsity gains as outsourcer

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2004 -- The former web-based textbook discount company Varsity Group said its invention of itself as an outsourcer to small schools is yielding dividends. More than 300 private middle and high schools, small colleges and distance learning organizations have chosen Varsity as their exclusive online bookstore, said chief executive Eric Kuhn. Revenues for the first three months of 2004 ran almost 50 percent of a year earlier, Kuhn said. In coming months, he said, more institutions will opt for Varsity as a "solution" for textbook needs. "While there are still many schools completing the process of evaluating their bookstore operations for fall 2004, our success to date has already positioned us to significantly improve upon our financial performance," Kuhn said.

VARSITY GROUP