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Fifty Shades of Grey & The Hunger Games Blamed for Sales Decrease at Penguin

Penguin’s worldwide profits totaled £441 million for the first half of 2012, dipping by £16 million compared to the same period last year. Pearson, the corporate parent of Penguin, revealed these stats in its half-year earnings report.

Here’s more from the release: “Penguin’s first half trading was affected by three factors: a lighter publishing schedule, the exceptional performance of competitor bestsellers The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey and continued pressure on physical book publishing and retailing. We expect Penguin’s publishing and its competitive performance to be stronger in the second half of the year, and we expect the structural change to continue. In the second half, Penguin will continue to take action to adapt to the rapidly-changing industry environment and will be expensing integration costs associated with its acquisition of Author Solutions.”

Penguin US counted 132 bestsellers during the first half of the year, down from 157 bestsellers in 2011. The company noted that Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben, Charlaine Harris, John Green and Jenny Lawson all scored hits. Self-published novelists Tracey Garvis Graves and Sylvia Day both inked book deals with Penguin and were cited as bestsellers during the same period.

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